Teddy Bears on Brigade [A SCS Fanfiction]

Chapter 383 Book 6 - 44 - Badlands

Once we had a reliable way to detect the stealth infectors, the battle was swift; the recovery after it was all over was not. Several Kodiaks had been smashed, and nearly three dozen bears had been destroyed.

Although we considered leaving the damaged units behind and immediately marching on the hive, we ultimately decided to hold position until a couple of heavy lifters could arrive and remove the casualties. The Antithesis had spent the last few days sieging our defenses around Great Falls in a desperate attempt to gain access to the metal and other rare materials inside. I wasn't about to hand them what they wanted.

Besides, if what Nyx told me was true, and gaining access to basic metals and other elements meant the Antithesis could start producing stronger models, I really didn't want to know what they could create if they gained access to the rarer alloys used in the creation of my bears.

Even though the delay was annoying, it did give us a chance to replenish our forces, as I had the heavy lifters bring in some replacements when they came, and it gave me enough time to reset my broken arm before we continued forward.

"Why do you think the Antithesis only sent those stealth fuckers at us, instead of backing them up with something like the Megapedes or the Scarabs?" I asked Nora once we started moving again.

"Maybe they had already committed to creating the oversized flyers, and the other goliath units haven't finished their gestation cycle yet," she mused. "You only saw those strains once, right? Maybe they take a long time to produce."

"It's possible, but considering how fast the Antithesis have been able to reproduce the basic models, sending an unending torrent of the basic units to us for several days straight, I kind of assumed they'd be able to rebirth the titans by now," I said.

"If that were true, I would have expected to hear about another group being attacked by them," Nora replied. "And since the Antithesis didn't send a coordinated attack against us, which would have been devastating, I have to assume they're not available."

"But why? What could be more important than fielding their strongest units?" I asked.

"You're asking why a mindless swarm of aliens isn't making intelligent tactical decisions?" Nora chuckled.

"Well, they've made some fairly sound tactical decisions so far. I just assumed that they had something pulling the strings behind the scenes," I said.

"We know that the Antithesis adapt to overcome whatever resistance they encounter, even without a guiding intelligence. That's probably all it was. It just seemed like something was guiding them because the hive was able to send out so many units that it could adapt faster," Nora said.

"Maybe… I'm not so sure," I muttered, shaking my head, but since I didn't have a good counterpoint, only a gut instinct, I let the discussion drop.

Even though the Antithesis continued to throw themselves against us, they could do very little to slow our advance without heavier units. The strongest units we encountered were the Model Twenty-Eights, and the Moose could take care of those with their Coil Cannons; the Mauler's main guns weren't required.

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After about two hours of hard fighting, we finally got our first glimpse of the hive. The flat, barren ground suddenly gave way to a hard, chitinous surface. Short, razor-sharp spines grew out of the ground around the perimeter, which grew in size and impressiveness the farther we went. It didn't take long before they began to obstruct our advance.

"What are these stupid things?" Dusty grumbled. "They're in my way!"

"I think that's the point," Deadbeat replied. "Some sort of organic tank traps to slow the enemy down and keep them out of the central hive complex."

"Arg! Just give me and the Mauler two minutes. I'll clear the way!" Dusty declared.

"That won't be necessary," I declared, drawing the attention of my squad. "These spines are keeping us out, but they're so numerous that they'd probably obstruct all the titanic models from moving about, so the Antithesis probably have at least one tunnel large enough for those goliaths to move in and out of the hive. If we find that, we'll probably be able to drive the Mauler right in."

"That's… not a bad idea," Deadbeat said hesitantly.

"Thanks, I've been thinking about it for a while," I replied.

"Unless the reason we haven't seen any of those Titanic Antitheses is that they haven't dug any access tunnels large enough, and they're all stuck inside," Deadbeat continued.

I winced; that hadn't occurred to me, and it was a reasonable explanation for why we hadn't seen any of the massive models in a while.

"If that's the case, then I can start blasting and create a choke point, which we could easily hold," Dusty exclaimed. "Then you'll all get a chance to see what the Mauler can really do."

"Before we do that, perhaps we should check if this tunnel actually exists," Nora said. "Bandit, any chance you can detect anything that would indicate a tunnel in the area?"

Bandit cocked his head to the side and slowly ran his gaze back and forth over the area. "There's a lot of vibration coming from the left," he finally said. "It's kind of hard to tell, since the Antithesis are pouring out of the area and scattering in every direction, but it feels like more Antithesis are flooding through that area."

"It's worth checking out," Heavy grunted. "Dusty can always indulge his cannon obsession and blow open the spikes if we don't find anything."

"Sounds good to me. Let's move," I declared.

Our small battle force slowly crept around the edge of the hive. Our progress was a lot slower than before because the bears had to concentrate on fighting the antithesis that were pouring out of the crater, which was on our right instead of ahead of us now. We'd also occasionally run into a particularly thick row of spines that required us to search for a way around.

It didn't take long before even I could detect vibrations in the ground. Something was moving around beneath us.

"Hey Bandit, any clue how far we'd have to go to find the tunnel entrance? It looks like we'll have to backtrack," I said.

"Yes. Now that we've blocked the Antithesis charging across the surface, the vibrations through the tunnel network are much clearer. It feels like the Antithesis are scattering somewhere just beyond that ridge," he replied, gesturing to a particularly large mound of chitin.

"If they're behind us, why aren't they doubling back?" Nora asked. "The Antithesis usually charge directly at any sign of life they can find, and that includes gunfire, but these seem to be focused entirely upon expanding outward."

"Well, you know what I think, that something is commanding the Antithesis deep within the hive," I said. "However… That wouldn't explain why the horde is avoiding us. I'd think if there was some sort of intelligence, they'd try harder to crush us, not make it easier. It's like they're inviting us in."

"Please don't say shit like that," Deadbeat muttered.

"Well, can you think of another reason they'd avoid us?" I asked.

"No, and that's what concerns me," she replied.

"Whatever the reason, the fact that they're scattering and not focusing on us means that we should be able to punch through their lines and get in that tunnel without too much difficulty," I said. "All it'll take is one swift strike, and we'll soon be on our way to the heart of the hive to deliver our 'present'."

"Sounds good to me," Nora said, slowly bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Let's get some payback."

I smiled. "Let's."