Chương 65: Chapter 63 - Advanced Tactics

"You seem to be concentrating really hard, whatcha thinking about?" Angeline asked. Sharron had been assigned to shore clearing duty, along with some more veteran Samurai, so it was just Angeline and I, at least at the moment. The two of us were waiting for the rest of the team to show up, but as soon as they got me to my truck, I zoned out.

"We've been assigned to check the undercity perimeter wall, and I'm trying to figure out how to do that, while also having the time to search for Antithesis." That caused Angeline to raise an eyebrow.

"Didn't you just destroy pretty much every single Antithesis that came out of the farms when they were dealing with the hives? That's what the brief said."

"Yeah," I grumbled, "but to do that I had to put down a massive device to attract all the Antithesis in the area."

"So… it's too big to mount in your truck?" Angeline asked. As soon as she did, I flinched, then slowly turned to look at her.

"You didn't think about putting it in a vehicle before?"

"In my defense, I haven't had a vehicle for that long, and it was previously stuffed full of bears." Angeline couldn't help but giggle at my frustrated face.

"Well then, just mount it in the back of your truck and we'll be ready to go."

"Yeah yea… no, wait," I cried, "I have a better idea. Nyx!"

"Evelyn!" The nearest bear turned to face the pair, a spark of intelligence in its previously empty eyes.

"You know the Grizzly, could we change the design so it doesn't look so doofy, and mount a lure in the back?" Angeline snorted at the question, but I just ignored the other woman.

"Well, the Grizzly does have the lift capacity to support a lure and still support a squad, but you'll have to explain what you mean by 'Doofy' before I can start recommending things to you."

"Well, the color is ugly first of all, flat olive green coloring sucks. I hate the look of all that miscellaneous storage space bolted to the side, and the extra plates welded on the side look chunky," I said, slowly counting off all the problems on my fingers.

"The color and storage spaces aren't a big deal, but removing the armor will make the vehicle somewhat vulnerable to stronger Antithesis models. You could offset that by purchasing an armor plating catalog for it though."

"Nice. Can you show me the updated model before I buy one then?" Almost instantly I received a file which contained a 3D model of the updated transport. It allowed me to customize the vehicle and change the paint job, in order to see an example of the final model.

"I can put a gun on these things?" I asked in surprise.

"How come I didn't know that before?"

"If my memory serves, and it always does, you were tired and pissed off at the time. In order to evacuate all your bears you required the additional space that the APC version provided. By the way, if you do plan on arming the next model you could use the Advanced and Thermal Munitions Catalogs you opened earlier to add more of a punch."

"Good to know…" I quickly flipped through my available options until I found something interesting.

"What the hell is this?"

"Do you like it? I spent a few seconds designing those in order to provide you with several different options." Nyx asked, sounding slightly smug. One of the customization options that Nyx included was decals, and there were hundreds of unique, Teddy related icons. They were fascinating, but there was one specific one that caught my attention.

"Nyx, gimme one of these!" Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Purchased Class I Vehicle Armor Catalog - 100 points Grizzly IFV (Light Cannon + Reactive Armor) - 1750 points Points Remaining - 103, 869 The vehicle that appeared was similar to the Grizzly APC I purchased earlier, but much sleeker. It was painted a dark urban camouflage color; a black base with various jagged gray stripes.

Most importantly, at least to me, on the side of the chassis was a new emblem. It was the head of a gray bear, like Spooky, but it was wearing a green hood with the ears poking through. The hood was pulled low, casting a shadow over the majority of the bear's face, but it had glowing red eyes peering out from the shadows. It somehow made the hooded teddy bear look sinister, and I loved it.

"What the hell is that?" Angeline asked, pointing at the crest. She'd pulled a chocolate bar and bottle of juice out of somewhere while waiting, and was busy chowing down.

"That's my new symbol, like it?" I asked.

"It's something, that's for sure. So… what's with the tank?"

"I have a shit ton of bears now, it's almost too many for me to keep track of. I always planned to split them into squads, now seems like the right time," I explained. Angeline hmmm'd, but didn't say anything; she was too busy chewing.

"If I can get each squad to be a little more self-sufficient, I could give them each an IFV, throw a lure in there, and greatly expand the area we cover in our sweep." Angeline swallowed.

"And you think that'll work?"

"Maybe, probably, that's a Nyx question. Nyx?"

"Yes, it's possible, but there is one issue. You'll need better Augs to control things at a strategic level, something out of a Class II catalog, so you'll need to spend one of your remaining four tokens."

"Well, it's probably something I'll have to do in the long run anyways. Might as well do it now, so I can get used to the changes." Angeline raised an eyebrow, "I usually have to think about how to spend my tokens. It must be nice to have enough spares to splurge like that, moneybags."

"Hey, I'm usually very careful with my purchases, you just caught me on a day where I have a surplus." I frowned, despite myself.

"I believe you," Angeline replied with a grin, "but you're fun to tease and cute when you're grumpy, so I can't help myself sometimes." I felt my face get flushed with embarrassment, which only caused Angeline to grin wider.

"Sooo cute." I turned away and tried to concentrate on my upgrades, not the woman grinning like a maniac behind me.

"So Nyx, what are my Aug options?"

"There are two different paths you could follow. The first is the Class II Strategic Command upgrade. It allows you to perform more complicated maneuvers and directly control more units. This requires more concentration and is better if you plan to fight from a central command post. The second, the Class II Distributed Command upgrade, pushes more responsibility onto the squad leaders. This would require more advanced AI, and would probably result in higher point losses since you're not commanding directly.

It's a complicated choice…"

"I'll take the Distributed Command one," I interrupted.

"Fuck sitting in a tent and planning. I'm shit at that."

"Fine, in that case I recommend the Class I combat AI catalog, and applying the Squad Leader AI package to whichever bears you want to use as leaders."

"What's the price for each?" I asked.

"The Aug catalog will cost you six hundred points and a token. The upgrade will set you back fourteen hundred. The Class I Adaptive AI Catalog is one hundred points, and each upgrade is an additional two hundred and fifty." Angeline whistled at the numbers, I just frowned.

"Sounds expensive, but still manageable considering my totals. Since I'm splurging, let's add an upgrade for all the foxes, I don't want anyone to get ambushed by a Nine or Twenty-One while we're out there, and five more IFVs equipped with lures." Angeline slowly turned and looked at me, who just shrugged in response.

"I have a ton of points, it happens when you pull all the models out of multiple hives. I may not be able to recover all the points I spent here today when we clean up, but I'll get some of them. Plus, the process will go MUCH quicker if I can spread out my forces." Angeline nodded, "Makes sense. Hey, the next time you decide to farm a bunch of hives let me know, I could definitely use a point surplus like that." I grinned in response.

"Deal. Nyx, start getting everything ready, starting with the Augs. I'd like to get everything ready before our new friends show up." Nyx didn't reply, instead a massive pile of boxes appeared at my feet, way more than expected. I frowned, "This might take longer than I previously expected."