"The number one killer of new samurai is the injuries they took while initializing. Number two is overconfidence after starting to feel like they are invincible. Number three is the one not a lot of people talk about, which is the first time they run into a command model and are suddenly up against an enemy with the ability to plan."

  — Keep your unit's new best buddy alive! Mercenaries Almanac Weekly, March 9th 2053

  Quinn desperately tried to collect her thoughts as her world spun. She staggered backwards, struggling to maintain even rudimentary balance with the incessant feelings of dizziness and nausea bombarding her.

  All of a sudden the feeling stilled, and she found herself back in her own body in the darkness of the mech's interior, partially enveloped by the jelly like seat. Panting for breath she was interrupted before she could speak.

  "You were hit by an ECM attack and reacted much worse than I predicted. You need a solution now, so we can get you back online before the culprit makes itself known. Mech upgrade or cybernetics."

  The terror of being trapped inside a metal box with no vision on the foes outside made the decision for her. "Whatever's fastest."

  "Lean forward and then stay as still as you can."

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  She complied, leaning forwards out of the gel seat. She felt a set of cold, metal legs suddenly land on her back, grabbing her neck and shoulders in a surprisingly tough grasp. Suddenly there was a pinch in the back of her neck, followed by a trickle of something wet down her neck as the legs shifted slightly.

  "How long is this going to…"

  "Done, re-engaging cerebral link"

  Suddenly she was back in her greater form, watching Vixinertia desperately warding off a group of model-6s with a ring of fire and her hammer.

  Quinn crouched as she brought the particle beam to bear, settling in just enough before pulling the trigger. This time she got to properly witness the results, as she got a brief glimpse of the green and brown insides through the beach ball sized hole now drilled right through it.

  She immediately spun up the laser gun, blasting the soft underbelly of a model-6 that had reared up approaching the flames. She shifted slightly and blasted the back legs off another with the shoulder cannon, where Vixinertia finished it off by caving its head in.

  "Maiden, you good?" She asked in a concerned tone.

  "Yeah." Quinn sharply let out the breath she'd been holding. "Something ECMed me. Have you seen any new friends?"

  There was a lull in the conversation while Vixinertia performed a curve left, up then right around one of the last two Model-6s swiping limbs.

  "Not yet, Vyshnu do you know what it could be?"

  It took him a moment to response, which conerned Quinn with how fast they usually are.

  "Likely a Model-12, Most Human Vanguard describe it as a bus sized bumblebee with teeth. Its commonly a troop carrier of sorts."

  Quinn turned this one over in her mind as she loosed a plasma disk at the one one. She cursed as it missed, impacting the road beside its head and merely charring the side. That seemed to be enough however, as Vixinertia dashed in and caved its head in through the weakened scales.

  "So.. is it super long range?"

  "No Darling, which is concerning. The fact its close enough to affect you while not having joined the fight indicates the presence of a command model."

  "Shit." Vixinertia spat. "Those are always a real fucking problem. How long till the hive crew are done?"

  This time, almost thankfully, it was Hylios that responded. "At least a few more minutes, sorry! If it helps all us AIs think you'll most likely be able to handle whatever is coming, you can do it!"

  Hylios' words helped push down the anxiety that was fraying at Quinn's nerves. They kept a wary eye out as they mopped up some of the smaller models that were scrabbling at the building or the c-foam blockages. A few managed to slip in when Quinn accidently melted a block of the foam with a plasma blast, which she hastily covered back up while Vixinertia gave her an amused side eye.

  Just as the two of them began to relax, as if it could read their minds from afar, it decided to strike. The huge, plant like beast dashed out from a different angle from the rest, its sudden proximity sending a wave of nausea through Quinn. She spun around, straining the mech's internals to get the laser gun on target and began peppering it with fire as it came at them. As it approached however, it suddenly veered right and started flying perpendicular to the pair. Parts of its carapace peeled away, and a set of quill covered faces and shoulders poked out of the gaps.

  "Aisha, Cover, NOW." came Vyshnu's voice over the call. Vixinertia reacted with commendable speed, darting towards Quinn's larger form. Sharp quills rained down upon the general area, many bouncing off Quinn's frame. Unfortunately, there was a yelp of pain before Vixinertia got fully under the safety of the mech.

  "Vanguard Maiden, Vanguard Vixinertia has been hit and requires immediate protection."

  "Fuck. I got her." Quinn spun around towards the younger girl, who was currently screaming every expletive under the sun in pain as she tried to stay upright while blasting incoming smaller foes. Bending down, Quinn scooped her up in both handed arms, trying to cradle her gently while still firing both weapons to keep the swarm at bay.

  "What does she need, I'm not sure I can easily apply anything from in here?" Quinn fought to keep the panic from overwhelming her, but the sheer panic kept building as she desperately tried to distract herself with the combat happening around her.

  The Model-12 zipped back into view, and Quinn held Vixinertia to her chest and dashed sideways, attempting to put the ruined building between her and it. In her arms, Vixinertia weakly grabbed at a syringe that had dropped into her hand, pressing it against herself and pressing the button on the end.

  "She'll be okay, Darling. but the Model-5 antitoxin will take a short while to settle in. You'll need to keep her safe until then."

  Quinn felt one edge of her panic recede, but there was still many more gnawing at her as she tried to figure out how to both fight the strafing plant helicopter and keep Vixinertia safe at the same time.

  "Darling, your Cortisol is spiking. Talk to me."

  Quinn fired wildly at a pack of model 3-s and 4-s that had followed her around the side of the building. Sheer panic knocked her aim off, and she had barely gunned down half of them before her laser rifle was throwing heat warnings.

  "I can't, its too much!" Quinn stumbled over her words, trying to put something of what she was feeling into words without breaking into tears.

  "Quinn, you're a Vanguard with a wealth of points. You can always buy a solution. Think darling, I know you can!"

  Something in Irys' tone sparked something in her mind, and the part of her that looked at problems and found solutions roared into action. She opened fire with her plasma cannon again, disintegrating the front set of forces approaching her, while backpedalling to provide more cover.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Protective energy shield. Something to cover her. On wrists?"

  "I'll get you the combat installation version."

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  There was a feeling of extreme itchiness as a small disk manifested on her left wrist, along with a small cloud of nanites that burrowed in. A moment later yet another new appendage sprang into her mind, and she mentally pushed on it. A large hexagonal shield, maybe six feet in diameter and appearing as a glowing sky blue structure made of smaller hexagons, expanded to cover part of her front, including her precious cargo.

  The bumblebee swooped around the building, the models within letting lose another volley of spines. The majority clattered against the shield, bouncing off but giving Quinn a sense of drained energy. Quinn returned fire with laser pulses, and while she pegged one of the model-5s inside the thing it closed its carapace quickly enough to minimize the damage.

  Quinn hit her momentum drive and zooped forward, dropping to one knee as she deployed her shoulder cannon in a motion she was quickly getting confident in. She aimed at the flying bus, charging up a shot. At the last second the thing just.. stopped flapping and dropped out of the air, causing her beam cannon to punch a hole in the concrete building behind it.

  Swearing, she re-aimed the plasma disk she was intending for a ground group upwards. Letting the shot fly, she hit it dead on its side. Unfortunately, the blast seemed to barely faze it, even as the outside scales were charred black.

  More antithesis charging the c-foamed entrances to the hive forced Quinn to redirect her attention downwards. She sprinted back around the corner to the main street, Shielding Vixinertia with the mechs bulk as the model-12's occupants raked the street with a hail of poisoned quills.

  It was clearly reacting intelligently, and her particle beam was telegraphed enough that landing a good shot would be hard. The plasma cannon seemed to hurt it, but not greatly. She glanced up at it as it dived behind another building, likely giving its occupants time to prepare another volley. The wings.. were they as heat resistant? Hitting them would be near impossible, but maybe the splash.

  "Irys, what happens if I shoot the plasma disc while its in flight."

  "It will destabilize and explode there, but the results may be unpredictable. What did you have in mind?"

  "The wings, maybe they are more vulnerable than the body."

  "Unless that's an unusual variant, that will likely work if you get the discharge close enough."

  Quinn felt her momentum drive ready again, so she dashed forward to give herself some space from the swarm that was always streaming towards her. She predicted the Model-12 would come back around the megabuilding, from the same street the antithesis had been approaching in general, and she was right. As it came round the corner, she loosed the disk she had been charging at a point above its head, pausing her movement to line up the shot. She missed, the laser shots going wide as the plasma disk careened into a skyscraper the next street over, melting a portion of a billboard into metal and glass slag.

  "Fuck." Quinn yelled as she charged another shot. The model-12 swooped around her, trying to find a gap in the shield for its charges to skewer Vixinertia from. She let loose, but the giant bug plant had clearly figured out Quinn was trying something as it swerved away from the path of the disc, leaving it not close enough when this time she landed her laser shots on target.

  She sprinted away from the swarm underfoot again, trying to keep the model-12 in her sights while avoiding giving any model-3s or model-4s purchase to clamber onto her and potentially worm their way into cracks. She really needed a passive way to deal with the small fry, the flak guns on Cassie-0 had been perfect. Think Quinn Think, she needed a way to land a shot on the thing.

  An idea came to her. She charged the plasma cannon for a third time, watching as the giant bee did a 180 to fly another pass. As it approached, she hit the momentum engine to dash forward, then kneeled to prepare a particle beam shot like before. Just as the particle gun charged, she fired a plasma blast a little under the beast. As she suspected, the model-12 once again dropped to avoid the beam, and that put it just in place for the plasma disk to pass just over it. She pinged it with the laser rifle in three shots, detonating it towards the back of the model-12.

  The effect was immediate, the things wings incinerated, and it came crashing down to the street below. Quinn cheered, as did a Vixinertia who was poking her head above Quinn's arm.

  "Vix, you okay?" Quinn sputtered out.

  "Yeah Maiden, I'm feeling a bit woozy, but Vyshnu says I'll be fine in a few minutes."

  For not the first time Quinn wondered why it felt so easy to carry a conversation while fighting with multiple limbs, noting it down to ask Irys later. She glanced around, finding that the antithesis swarm seemed to have mostly abated, so she started the mop up of the remains.

  Something moving caught her attention. She focused her attention, only to see the Model-12 slowly climbing to its feet. Its head was half pulped, but somehow it will still moving, and there were little strands writhing within the mess of its face. In a moment, it went from struggling to move to charging her with a speed rivalling a car. She barely had the time to raise her arms to block, taking its shoulder tackle on her hardlight shields. The shields systems screamed a protest in her mind, not designed for quite that level of blunt force.

  Quinn was spun around, trying to catch her footing as the thing turned and readied another charge. Vixinertia, who was clinging onto a couple of her fingers for dear life, shouted. "DASH LEFT." Quinn took the advice and once again found herself several meteres away as the berserk model-12 screamed by where she had just been. The dash helped her find her footing and she sprinted forward while yelling to Irys.

  "I'm not hitting that with a particle beam, I need something more immediate. Fuck it, Sword me!"

  "Done."

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  A gleaming blade dropped into the hand that wasn't holding Vixinertia. It was long, long enough she'd have needed two hands had she been in a human form. A blade of onyx coloured metal emerged from a curved crossguard with rounded ends. The hilt was simple, sleek metal with a spherical pommel, a red circle on the very bottom. The blade itself was not solid metal, with a core of purple hardlight holding the edges of the blade to the hilt, while also augmenting the blade edges. It reminded her dearly of the fantasy games she used to play as a teenager, when she could afford such things with her parents still talking to her. The memories of feeling like a hero, of someone with power, flooded into her. Vixinertia lept upwards to perch a number of feet up the ruined skyscraper, giving Quinn the space to fight. She looked towards the Model-12 and settled into something like a sword stance, blade held in both hands in front of her, up at a 45 degree angle, feet planted in a steady stance.

  It charged again, and this time she met it head on, plunging the blade deep into its body before ripping it out sideways as she was pushed back and nearly over. She stumbled back but regained her footing, hoping that would be the decisive blow but not counting on it. It whirled around again, a deep cut up its shoulder leaving one leg nonfunctional. How was it still going? It charged again, though slower this time, rearing up and attempting to kick her with a whip fast front limb. She blocked with the hardlight shield, grimacing as it stuttered under the blow, and lashed out at the offending leg with the sword. The model-12 darted back at the last moment with dizzying speed, and she swung at empty air.

  "Quinn darling, I think we're seeing a Model-17 CE Variant. Its a command model that burrows into a larger model to take direct charge while also secreting potent combat enhancing drugs. You'll really want to kill it once the model-12 goes down."

  "If I can fucking take it down." Quinn spat as she deflected another jabbing blow from the bus sized plant. She had the superiority in weapons, but actually landing a hit was near impossible. Something this big shouldn't be so fucking huge.

  Wait. The pause in her thinking almost got her hit, and she was forced to Momentum drive backwards to avoid a vicious right hook. She had guns, why the fuck was she just using a sword.

  Quinn opened fire with the laser cannon, blasting the thing in the squishy flesh of its exposed head. The beast backpedled, holding its remaining functional front limb in front of its face as a shield. Quinn followed, keeping the pressure up while charging a plasma blast. She knew it couldn't stay on the defensive for long, and she was banking on it realizing that too. She dropped her sword into a side position as she pushed towards it. It took the bait, using its four back limbs to leap at her full scale, and she waited just long enough for it to remove its protective front limb before planting a white hot plasma disk directly in its vulnerable face. Its limbs flailed, turning what was a flying kick into an uncontrolled tumble, and while Quinn wasn't able to dodge, she was able to brace herself with both gun arms and the hardlight shield.

  The weight of the thing sent her tumbling back, laser cannon barrel bent at an odd angle and hardlight shield sparking and nonfunctional. She stabbed the sword into the ground as she slid back, the blade gouging a deep cut into the concrete but arresting her backwards momentum enough to stagger to her feet. The Model-12 wasn't any better off, clearly struggling to stand even with all those combat drugs with so much of its insides clearly cooked to uselessness. Quinn felt for the controls of the sword, finding the one to deactivate the right edge as she charged at the model-12. She released the hilt with her right hand, grabbing the blade at the end and driving it towards the middle of the bee like a giant two handled mincing knife. As she made contact, she gripped as tight as she could and activated the momentum drive, the force of the charge and the drive shoving the blade through the thing, bisecting it from head to tail horizontally as the blade came free of the other end in a shower of green sap.

  Quinn stood, not physically worn out but mentally drained. She held the blade in one hand as she watched the corpse for any sign of further movement. She breathed a sigh of relief when it looked like the thing was finally fucking dead.

  She caught a wriggling at the front briefly before something darted out of the corpse at high speed, dashing for an alley. Quinn raised her laser gun, only to remember the barrel was unusable and immediately began attempting to sprint after what must be the Model-17.

  Vixinertia crashed down between it and the alley, menacing it with her hammer, and Quinn finally got a good look at it. It almost looked like a small model-3, but covered in eyes and with longer, shovel like claws. Its eyes glanced between her and Vixinertia before darting perpendicular to them both. Vixinertia activated her own drive and dashed into its path once again, and it dashed left once again, desperately trying to escape their encirclement. Quinn fired a plasma blast at the street in front of it, causing it to dart back towards the alley it had first gone for, right between where Quinn and Vixinertia were closing it on it. Quinn threw her sword to the side and lept with outstretched hands, and while it tried to dart to the side it wasn't fast enough and one of her hands closed over its torso before she crashed to the ground.

  She staggered to her feet, the beast in her hand desperately biting and scrabbing with its claws to get free as she held it in a vice grip. Vixinertia meandered over, watching it writhe.

  "Fucking hell, that thing gave us a fight for the stories."

  Quinn nodded, before squeezing her hand shut, quickly crushing its main body into paste, then dropping it onto the pavement when it stropped thrashing. She glanced at the slightly twitching body, then lifted a four toed foot and flattened its head as well for good measure.

  She glanced around, finding no more living plants in sight, and let out an exhalation of relief.