Ohe Forty-Four-L was loose a couple things happened in rapid succession. First, the entire cavern quickly flooded with a rust-cas. Sed, Grey reverted to her humanoid form and threw up a huge nanite wall which just barely caught the first salvo of acid, and finally Executable started analysing the situation in the most unhelpful ossible.

  “Assertion. Priority as should be as follows: Help those affected by gas, restrict Forty-Four’s movement, maintain perimeter, find and exploit Forty-Four’s weakness,” the giant ball droned as it iively sered the hydra.

  “In English that would be…” I muttered.

  A moment ter Broodmother yelled, “Teddy, grab Hoppy! I’ll grab Raijin.” I turned away from the front lio find Hoppy curled up in a ball near one of the Kodiaks.

  She needs a rebreather, and something te the chemicals out of her system. Ideally in a pot flooded by the gas, Nyx informed me.

  “Gimme a rebreather then!” I snapped. “And do I have anything te the toxins in my catalogs?”

  You do. The gas is plex, but no different than a human chemical-based on. It’ll take time to clear it out though, ideally it should be done in a pce clear of the gas.

  “We’ll do it in the Kodiak,” I said as I carefully slipped the rebreather over Hoppy’s face. I carefully helped the girl to her feet, then half-dragged her into the back of one of my transports. “Nourge device.”

  The device that appeared at my feet appeared to be a stretchy band, with a couple needles on the inside, so I slipped it up Hoppy’s arm.

  “I’m going to lock you in here until the purge is done,” I told the trembling girl. “The door isn’t going to unlotil you have a helmet that resist the gas. Uand?” Hoppy mao hold herself together long enough to nod. “Good girl,” I muttered as I jogged out of the Kodiak, smming the ramp closed behind me.

  As soon as I stepped outside I noticed Broodmother struggling t Raijin in my dire. The man had a rebreather on, but ractically foaming at the mouth, yelling ily. “e on!” I yelled, waving in her dire. “You use the back of one of my vehicles te him!”

  Broodmnced over at me and nodded before turning to get a better hold of Raijin. She’d just adjusted her grip when there was a fsh of murky green, and he was gone.

  I blinked. It took me a moment to prehend what just happened. One of the heads had spewed acid, much like a firehose, and caught Raijin in the burst. Barely anything of him was left, even his bones were melting.

  What broke me out of my shock was Broodmother, who after a brief moment started screaming. She’d been holding onto Raijihe acid hit, and now was missing her arm up to the shoulder.

  I broke into a run, only briefly gng towards the hydra befrabbing her and dragging her back to the shelter of the Kodiaks. “Nyx, I need something to ralize the remaining acid, and deal with the wound!” I yelled in a panic.

  I provide you with a dressing, however the bacteria is already in the system. Uhe gas, or simple wounds, the bacteria is practically a high-tier antithesis. It requires at least a css III catalog to deal with, the bacteria mutates too fast for the lower csses to deal with.

  Broodmother was screaming in pain, writhing on the ground. I had to use all my strength to try and keep her somewhat still.

  “Fuck! Then what I do? ’t I fill her with nao ter it?”

  That would be a temporary solution at best, and torturous to Broodmother as her body would stantly be getting ripped apart and put back together at a cellur level.

  “At least give me the dressing!” I yelled in panic. “Is there nothing I do?”

  Pestilence might have the required catalogs but…

  “I need Pestilenow!” I broadcast through my augs.

  “He got hit by one of the first acid sprays,” came Temporal’s subdued reply, “He pushed me out of the way and took the full force of the attack. His cyberics are fried. I have no idea if his brain box survived or not. He’s not responding.”

  I stared at Broodmother at my feet. Her screaming was dying down, and the vulsions were slowing. The dressing I’d ordered was sittio her, but her shoulder and the side of her chest were already starting to putrefy. I k down, held her good hand and supported her head.

  “Brood’s hit, I don’t think she’s going to make it. The bacteria’s killing her,” I reported quietly.

  I didn’t expeyoo reply, but Executable immediately did. “Warning: If scarabs go offline our perimeter will be promised.”

  “Unless you have the tech to save her, there’s nothing we do,” I growled. As I watched the life slowly leave Broodmother’s body I took a deep breath. “I’ll hahe perimeter, just kill that fug thing!”

  The fug ball just gave me the cold, souless reply of “Affirmative.”

  “Nyx, I want you to flood this area with bears,” I said quietly as I cradled Broodmother’s body. “Give the Moose 'Devastators’ to deal with big stuff, and spread them around to maintain a perimeter around the team.”

  Hooints would you like to use? Nyx asked quietly.

  “All of them.”

  Are you sure? You’ll be pushing your and impnt with that number of units, and you should keep some sort of reserve in case of emergencies.

  “If the perimeter fails, it won’t matter. The others will be too distracted by the surrounding mobs to fight the Forty-Four, and we’ll be overrun. Do it,” I muttered. On my p Broodmother finally id still. I hoped there’d be enough of her left t bace this was all said and done.

  All around roup the scarabs just stopped. The small antithesis which were previously being devoured surged forward, followed quickly by the rger models.

  Purchased:

  Css II bat Bear (With B3AR) x 56 = 16800

  Css II Re Fox (With B3AR-MR) x 13 = 13650

  Css II Heavy Moose (With ‘Devastator’ Coilgun x 13 = 23400

  Points Remaining: 423

  In their eared bears, dozens of them. They split into fireteams around the perimeter and opened fire. The cacophony of gunfire unctuated by the heavier thuds of the coilguns, pung holes into the rger models.

  The pure weight of the firepower pushed the antithesis lines back, and gave the others room to work.

  I, in the meantime, was in agony. I felt like my brain was melting as it struggled to give orders, and anize, so many new bears at once.

  “Teddy, you ok?” I vaguely heard someone say. I turo see Hoppy, as she slowly crept out of the other Kodiak.

  “I’ll be fine, probably,” I mumbled. “I’m driving my brain into overdrive trying to get the new bears set up. I’ll be fine ohey're in static battle lines. Help the others. I o keep the perimeter secure.”

  “If you’re sure,” she said uainly.

  “I am,” I said as I focused on the girl. “Oh, and take Bob with you! Bob!”

  The big bear came bounding out of bat like an eager puppy. I probably could have summoned him through my impnt, but I was already straining myself as it was.

  “Help the others deal with that monstrosity. Leave the small stuff to the others,” I mumbled.

  Bob saluted. “You t ohat thing is as good as dead,” he said before taking off. Hoppy took o look at me before following him.

  I sat there, back against the Kodiak, eyes closed, dug a desperate battle with my mind. It wasn’t something I was used to doing; normally I let them fight meically, nearly on automatic, but I couldn’t let that happen right now.

  I o give the team as much time as possible. The Forty-Four had to die.