Chương 425: Book 7 - Chapter 21 - Response times

"Well, this is a surprise," I muttered.

"I thought we'd be the first ones here." Even though Heavy had informed me right as the breach happened and we traveled directly from the Destiny to the site of the breach, it seemed that several other samurai had beaten us to the site. There was already a small flotilla of ships combing the area.

"I guess it's for the best. I don't really have a good way to track the Antithesis that are already in the zone. Hopefully there's someone down there that has a better way to do it, because I'd really like to deal with these leviathans before they meet up with the Gene Tender," I said.

"I don't see why they wouldn't," Sharron replied.

"Dealing with aquatic Antithesis is their specialty." She adjusted her armor, and checked her helmet before looking over at me.

"Would you mind flying lower and opening up the back of the Kodiak for me?"

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm going to help them," she replied.

"I may not have a lot of experience with underwater combat, but I learned to swim as a kid, and I have the proper equipment. I might as well start learning and get a little practice in before we encounter something more serious."

"Are you sure you want to go down there?" I asked.

"Are you sure? You could stay up here with me instead if you wanted."

"And you could come into the water if you REALLY wanted," Sharron replied.

"I know you have it in you; you just need the proper motivation."

"Well, believe it or not, I don't find drowning in the ocean and being devoured by whatever monsters are down below to be much of a motivator," I grumbled.

"I'll drop you off. Just don't expect me to follow you." Sharron shook her head.

"I really don't understand why you're so afraid; you've killed armies of Antithesis and walked straight into some of the most dangerous hives on the face of the earth, but you won't go in the water."

"One is significantly more dangerous than the other," I replied.

"Whatever," Sharron replied, rolling her eyes before pulling her helmet on.

"Would you mind?" I mentally prodded the pilot, and the vehicle swiftly descended to the ocean's surface. Through the external cameras, I could see a couple of the boat crews glancing our direction, but I ignored them.

"If you do figure out where those leviathans went, make sure you message me right away," I said as I wandered to the back and slammed the open hatch button.

"I'll have Spooky nuke the area."

"You know, with all the other samurai around, I expect that someone will have a way to deal with them," Sharron said.

"It's possible, probably even," I replied, "but since I haven't met any of them, and I don't know what they can do, I want to be sure. Trust, but verify by covering the entire area in fire and explosions." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I guess that's prudent," Sharron said.

"When I get back, you and I are going to go visiting again. We really should know who we're working with and what they can do."

"If we must," I sighed. As Sharron stepped towards the lowering ramp, I retreated out of the way, as far away from the dangerous liquid as possible.

"I'll head back to Bear Force One and monitor the situation from there, probably coordinate with the twins and the rest of the fleet in order to track these things down," I said.

"If you leave your transponder on, I'll make sure there's a Kodiak on station to pick you up if things go south."

"If things go south, then I'm probably going to need more than a transport," Sharron muttered.

"Oh, I'll give you whatever support I can muster; I just feel better if you have a way out available," I said.

"Well, I appreciate it," Sharron said as she stepped right to the end of the lowered ramp. I could see the endless waves just beyond the door, so I smiled and tried to look as supportive as possible, despite the gnawing fear growing in the pit of my stomach.

"Stay safe out there," I said.

"You too," Sharron replied before taking a final step and disappearing beneath the waves. I hesitated, just for a moment, before finally crossing the cabin and slamming the door close button again. When the hateful waves were once again hidden away, I immediately connected to the command network and contacted Spooky. [I'm heading back to Bear Force One to help coordinate the samurai search efforts,] I said. [Where is our scout team? Are they ready to join in on the hunt?] [They're approaching the area, but they're still a few minutes out. I had to make an executive decision; I could have either taken some extra time to load them on transports and have them ready to drop once we located the leviathans, or I could have them approach from the land and clear that approach,] Spooky said. [Although they're not great hunters, I figured even they would be hard pressed to miss something the size of a whale, never mind two.] [You made the right choice. Even though the bears are better armed now, I doubt we'll need them to directly assault the leviathans, we have heavy ordnance for that. It's better to rule out a direction early, so we have an easier time tracking them down,] I said. [How far out are they?] [Just under two minutes. I have them pretty spread out, in order to cover as much area as possible, so it may take longer for some of them to arrive than others,] Spooky replied. [That's fine, it's better to be thorough than it is to be quick,] I said.

[What about the sensor net? Is it still intact after the leviathans came through?] [The net isn't a solid thing--it's a series of sensor buoys set out over a large area. Although the Antithesis could have damaged it if they'd attacked the sensors, they didn't; they just swam through without stopping. Either they didn't know about the network, or they didn't care whether we knew about them or not,] Spooky said. [I don't like the ramifications of either of those options,] I muttered. [Uh, why?] Spooky asked.

[Because if they didn't know about the network, that means they either wandered into our net by accident, which I find unlikely, or the Gene Tender didn't summon these specific Antithesis but just sent out a signal that's drawing in all the Antithesis in the area. If it had summoned them directly, I would have expected it to ask them to cripple the net to either allow them to escape or at least create a distraction,] I said.

[And if it did summon them but didn't care about the network, that would mean the Gene Tender didn't care about disrupting the network or escaping. Which would mean it either wants to be here, or is planning something.] [It's planning something… while being surrounded on all sides and hunted by an army of samurai?] Spooky asked skeptically. [The thing came from Mars, where it was constantly fighting our best and brightest. The only reason I was able to wound it so badly back in Great Falls is the fucking thing underestimated me. I don't think it's going to make the same mistake twice,] I said. [So what you're saying is: The fact that those leviathans have penetrated our perimeter is a bad sign,] Spooky said. [I could always be wrong,] I admitted, [but the fact that these things penetrated our perimeter with absolutely no regard for their safety just feels too easy. I feel like there has to be more to it; they need to be part of a bigger plan.] [I really hope you're wrong,] Spooky replied. [Because if that's true…] [I know, every samurai in the area is walking right into it,] I said. [Make sure you arm all the missile silos and have Heavy put all the bears on stand-by, because no matter what this thing tries, I want to be ready. If it does make a move, I want to teach that fucking thing the consequences of underestimating me twice… and I don't plan to give it a chance to make a third.]