Chương 417: Book 7 - Chapter 13 - Glassed

"So, exactly how bad was Mars?" I asked as Sharron and I strolled back towards the main staging area.

"I mean, I did end up fighting some of the Antithesis that made the trip on Phobos, but every one of those monsters threatened to overwhelm my defenses. I can't imagine fighting an unending army of them."

"Honestly? The real problem wasn't with how strong the Antithesis were, \; it was how fast they adapted to our tactics," Sharron replied.

"Someone would buy a new chemical or biological weapon specifically designed to kill the Antithesis, and within an hour the Antithesis would not only have developed immunity but somehow adapted to use the weapon against us. Either feeding on it or changing it so it would target our forces. Although we slowly overwhelmed them, the battlefield was an everchanging slog."

"That sucks," I muttered.

"I guess we experienced a little of that with the anti-orbital weapon, organic EMP, and modified Model Fives, but that was still nothing compared to what you experienced on the Red Planet."

"I'm not sure we can call it that anymore," Sharron chuckled.

"Mars is significantly less red after the repeated biological scourging, nuclear strikes, and complete glassing of the planet's surface. It's more of a shiny black now."

"Okay, the fact that you all had to go to that extent just to finish the conflict is more than a little scary," I said.

"I'm glad the Family managed to force Phobos to break up, and we managed to get the shards under control before the Antithesis managed to create a foothold down here. I can't even imagine how we'd manage to fight that type of fight while also protecting the civilians." Sharron frowned and glanced over at me.

"Who told you the Family were the ones that broke up Phobos?"

"The Family of course," I replied, before looking back at her, confused.

"Why? Didn't the Family contribute?"

"In a manner of speaking… My understanding was that it was destroyed through a coordinated effort from a small group of family-associated independents from North America, the NightWatch Network in central Europe, and the Keiretsu from Asia," Sharron explained.

"I watched some of the fireworks while the fleet finished glassing Mars."

"So the Family brass lied when they said they were involved? Can't say I'm super surprised," I muttered.

"At least they didn't ask for anything in exchange for their 'help.'""Yeah, well, I expect there to be a little bit of a shakeup among the Family's top brass once the Mars fleet returns. The Family members that went to Mars weren't exactly the most important, but they were some of the strongest, and many of them weren't thrilled by how things were handled while they were away," Sharron said.

"Don't get me wrong, a lot of these people still have a fairly corporate mindset; they just don't like looking like heartless assholes, and they really don't like the current party line."

"Hopefully that'll mean I won't have to call in favors the next time I need an orbital strike on a mission-critical target," I said.

"I think that'll depend on what the target is and who you talk to," Sharron replied.

"As I said, they're a little bit better, but most of them still won't lend you tech for free."

"As long as I don't have to spend hours arguing and bargaining with someone while I'm in the middle of an active warzone," I grumbled.

"Did you really need to do that?" Sharron asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fuck no. I asked Benedict and Charlotte for their help so I didn't have to," I replied. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Can't say I'm surprised. You never did like dealing with the bureaucracy," she chuckled. As we walked down the shoreline, the patrol finally returned, riding their scooters right up to the shore before hopping off, sopping wet. As soon as they dismounted, a couple badgers wandered down and pulled the shark scooters up onto the beach so they wouldn't float away. Sharron stared at the miserable-looking patrol before turning to me.

"Was yout entire plan really to put Bears on Sharks and send them after the Antithesis?" she finally asked.

"Of course not," I replied indignantly.

"The original plan was to drop enough sensors that the Gene Tender couldn't escape the area while slowly driving it towards the rest of the task force out at sea. I just got bored and wanted to contribute a little bit more, so I cooked up some weapons that would allow the Bears to participate."

"Maybe you should cook up some towels," Sharron said.

"I've never seen such a pitiful-looking group of bears in my life. I'm guessing this is what you were talking about earlier, when you said aquatic combat was too different."

"It was… I thought that I could modify my existing equipment to work in a subaquatic environment, with maybe a little bit of effectiveness. I didn't expect them to struggle on the very first group of Antithesis they encountered," I grumbled.

"You've seen my suit, or at least my old one, and the weapons I used. What made you think that some slight modifications would get you through?" Sharron asked.

"Supercavitation," I replied. Sharron just smiled.

"Supercavitation isn't a solution for everything, you know."

"Well, I do now!" I exclaimed.

"I kind of expected the power of my weapons to make up for the lack of specialization. I didn't expect their damage to drop off that much."

"If you fire a traditional weapon into water, the effective range drops from hundreds of meters to a couple feet. The rounds just can't maintain their velocity while traveling through such a dense fluid," Sharron explained.

"I know… I watched most of the disastrous first engagement. I expected the Coilguns to take chunks out of the enemy. Instead they barely took any damage, and it took forever for the bears to clean up," I moaned.

"That's why I brought them back, so I could rethink my strategy."

"Why'd you put them on… sharks?" Sharron asked.

"They're aqua scooters with built-in torpedo launchers," I said.

"And I bought those because the bears are heavy as fuck and slow underwater, so I needed something to transport them around. They look like sharks because, well, it's kind of my thing now. Cuddly, robotic killing machines. I figured a shark would fit right in."

"I can't really argue with that," Sharron replied as she watched the bears slowly trudge away while stroking her chin.

"Do you want to use my catalogs? Even though I didn't purchase the Deep Dweller Catalog for underwater combat, that's what it was originally designed for. Well, underwater combat and mining."

"Could I? I don't suppose you've bought any additional aquatic catalogs since I last saw you, would you?" I asked.

"Evelyn, I was on Mars. I bought the Class IV Deep Dweller catalog to gain access to the heavier armor, but what good would aquatic equipment do?" Sharron replied. I shrugged.

"Maybe aquatic combat equipment would be good in a vacuum? Or on Mars? Fuck if I know. Sharron reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Evelyn, it's just better to have equipment that's designed specifically for a combat situation than trying to adjust existing stuff. If I was going to fight in a vacuum, I would have bought equipment designed for it."

"Wait… are you saying Mars has an atmosphere?" I asked.

"It did. The Antithesis partially terraformed the planet enough to give it a thin atmosphere. It's gone now. It was polluted, then vaporized by the nuclear bombardment and subsequent glassing of the planet's surface."

"Well, if you recommend buying equipment tailor-made for the battlefield, why did you invest in Deep Dweller Class IV? Isn't it mainly for aquatic combat?" I asked.

"Because it's designed to work both above and below the water," Sharron replied.

"And besides, the tech is so good that it was worth the investment."

"I feel like I'm getting mixed signals here," I muttered.

"Yeah, well, this is a case of do what I say, and not what I do," Sharron smirked as she threw her arm around my shoulder.

"Forget about that. Let's go see about getting your bears something useful, shall we?"