Swarm Ascendant

I was three weeks into my work contribution tour in a hydroponics farm, in the southern part of what was formerly Sweden, when it all went to shit.

My augmented vision kept flashing with a priority message,

which would have been great to know 10 minutes ago, before the plant fucks were on top of us. Right now, with a Model Three staring us down, it was more than a little distracting.

Antithesis was the bane of humankind, and by all reports, much of the rest of the galaxy too. They'd shown up some 40 odd years ago, and were by now a common enough foe that we theoretically knew how to act around them. Except, all that learning and planning kind of goes out of the window the first time you come face to face with an actual, no-kidding plant-based mouth full of teeth, trying its hardest to gnaw your face off.

Who knows, maybe the second time, too. I don't know yet, I'm still trying to survive this first one.

So there I was, along the periphery of a giant greenhouse, glass on one side, various vegetables growing in giant racks on the other and an arrow labelled "Shelter" blinking in my augs telling me to head straight down the corridor. The corridor which was currently occupied by a Model Three, a large greenish dog-like creature with black armour plates, two eyes set vertically in its stupid face and a open three-hinged jaw full of, and this is the important part, stupidly sharp teeth.

I could use a plan B, thanks.

My supervisor, Jens, was a gibbering mess next to me and of absolutely no use to anyone, so I guess it was all down to me. Great.

I was currently armed with a pair of pruning shears, and while they were pretty sharp, I didn't fancy my chances. Instead, I hauled Jens to his feet and pushed him behind me, while retreating backwards down the corridor away from the plant-dog. The range indicator next to the blinking arrow crept upwards and started to flash red. I felt a stress-headache coming on.

Thankfully the dog was acting cautiously instead of bum-rushing us, so we made it a few meters, before it decided that, you know what? Bum-rushing it is.

It took it exactly no time at all before it was jumping straight at my face and while I'd like to say that I met its charge heroically, I mostly flinched and tried to protect my face with my arms. Which ended with me on the ground, dog on top of me with my left arm half-way down its gullet and my right arm stabbing at its stupid vertically set eyes with some pruning shears. I kept stabbing and stabbing and stabbing some more, until the pain in my arm was joined by a brief stab of pain in the back of my head.

Then I heard a melodic female voice:

[System Initialized]

[Congratulations. Through your deeds you have proven yourself worthy to become one of the Vanguard, a protector of humanity. I am Eyon. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your home-world from the Antithesis threat!]

[Rise, Sylvi Söndermark, and become a protector of the weak!]

I tentatively stabbed the plant fuck again.

[It is quite dead. You can retrieve your arm now.]

Yup, thought so. I'm definitely hearing things.

[I'd really recommend looking at your arm sometime in the next two to three minutes, before you risk passing out from blood loss.]

Shit! The woman in my head was probably right. I tried to maneuver myself out from under the dog without further impaling myself on its teeth, and mostly managed. It... was a bit of a mess. There was blood pretty much everywhere, both my own in vibrant red as well as the green stuff from the plant-dog whose head I'd pretty thoroughly mulched at this point. I looked at my arm. I'm not a doctor, but I don't think I was supposed to be able to see the bone.

Now that the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off, the pain in my arm was getting noticeably worse.

"Who are you, and could you please help me out here?"

[I am Eyon, and while I cannot help you directly, I can help you help yourself! You have one hundred and eleven points available with which to purchase items. I'd recommend unlocking the Class I Medical Utilities catalogue and buying a WoundStop to prevent yourself from bleeding out.]

"Catalogue? Whatever, that sounds wonderful. One wound stopper, please."

Catalogue Unlocked: Class I Medical Utilities! -50 points

Points reduced to... 61

New Purchase: Class I WoundStop. -5 points

Points reduced to... 56

A box appeared next to me on the floor, pale white and quite featureless. With shaking fingers I nonetheless managed to flip the lid off and looked inside, where I found a tube about as thick as a cucumber, tapering to a finger-sized nozzle at one end, with a large button at the other.

[Please apply liberally to the holes in your arm.]

I did so, and the pain was replaced by intense itching, which faded rather quickly. The serious lacerations on my arm were now plugged with an off-white substance. I poked it. It felt like rubber.

"Fuck."

[Eloquently put.]

I looked around, and failed to spot Jens anywhere. The bastard had finally found some courage, then, even if it was only to run away. I took stock of my situation, then crashed to a realization.

"Wait. Vanguard. Protectors. You're telling me I'm a fucking Valkyrie?!"

[That is indeed the case. You might want to make use of that fact before further Model Threes show up in your vicinity.]

"I need a weapon. A weapon and an exit strategy."

I picked up my trusty shears, then started walking, still away from the Shelter, towards where I knew the Supervisor office was, looking down the planter rows as I passed them. The greenhouses were massive things, five or so meters tall and hundreds of meters to a side, stacked to the brim with various vegetables growing in hydroponic racks, with gantries near the roof to support the various automated systems.

[Let's take those one at a time, shall we? Do you have any preferences in terms of weaponry?]

"Uhhh..."

[Do you prefer a melee weapon, or something ranged?]

"Ranged! Definitely ranged, but, uh, I haven't had much success with guns."

[I'm sure I can recommend you something you can figure out, perhaps from the Class I Kinetic Handguns catalogue.]

"You mentioned catalogues before, how does that work?"

[Most Vanguard items are contained in various catalogues, which you need to unlock before being able to purchase said items. Higher tier catalogues contain higher tier items, and are priced accordingly. You can unlock Class I Kinetic Handguns for fifty points and spend your remaining six on a weapon from it.]

"That sounds good. Just... hang on a minute."

I'd reached the hardened door to the supervisor office, and tried to open it. It was locked.

"Go away!" came Jens' voice from within. "There's no-one here!"

I sighed, knocked shave and a haircut on the door, and called out.

"It's me Jens, Sylvi. You know, the woman you left on the floor, wrestling a plant with attitude problems? Mind letting me in?"

"Oh thank the Protectors you're alive. Is it safe?" came the reply after a brief pause.

"Safe enough for now. I don't see any more Anti's, anyway."

The door clicked open, and I saw Jens wince as he noticed my bloody arm.

"Shit Sylvi, your arm! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I panicked, I didn't think..."

"It's okay, I took care of it, somehow." I interrupted him. "Listen, this place has a weapon locker, yeah? Think I can get something with a bit more range than this thing?" I motioned towards my shears.

"Yes, yes of course! Come in, come in."

He waited for me to enter, then locked the door behind me. I noticed he had a Hummingbird in one hand.

"Help yourself!" he said and pointed towards an unlocked gun rack with two Hummingbirds still in it and a space where one was missing. The Hummingbirds had a slightly curved handle with a button on it, attached at the front to a boxy rectangle with 36 Fat Needles sticking out, all of it made out of what looked like aluminium. They looked like little more than toys, but Valkyrie tech toys, and that made all the difference.

I put down my shears and grabbed one, felt it attune with my augs and saw the aiming reticle pop up in my vision. I then thought for a moment before grabbing the other and stuffing it in one of my pockets.

[Very nice. A Hummingbird Mark I-D. Exactly what I would have suggested you purchase. I assume you know how to use one?]

"Aim at an Anti target, wait for the reticle to go red and pull the trigger. Just like in basic training."

[Exactly. Now, what was that about an exit strategy?]

"Jens, do you want to stay here, or would you rather try for the Shelter?" I said, turning to face him. "It isn't that far, but there might be more Antis around."

"What? You're leaving? Why?!"

"Because for all we know staying here could be a deathtrap." I replied reasonably.

"But... what? I'm not leaving! No way!"

"You sure? I really think heading for the Shelter is a better move."

"I'm not going back out there!"

"Fair enough then." I sighed and headed for the door.

"Sylvi! Sylvi, be safe, ok? Don't die agai-, I mean, please don't die."

"I'll try not to. You stay safe, too." I said.

I unlocked the door then stepped outside and scanned up and down the corridor, before hearing the door click locked behind me. The plant racks mostly blocked vision further into the greenhouse, but the corridor at the edge at least looked safe.

I started sneaking down the corridor towards the Shelter, checking each planter row before advancing. It was slow going. As I neared the corpse of the dog I'd mulched, I saw another Model Three sniffing around down a row. It snapped its head up and looked straight at me for a moment, before it took off sprinting towards me, claws clicking against the metal grating floor. I flicked my Hummingbird over it, saw the reticle go red and pulled the trigger just as it leapt at me. Four fat needles flew out of the Hummingbird with a loud hum, leaving thin trails of smoke in the air as they zeroed in on the Model Threes head, where they burrowed in, then exploded.

The dog's momentum carried it forward, however, and I only barely managed not to get bowled over as it hit me.

Target Eliminated!

Reward... 10 Points

"Much nicer, but I still wish I had more warning. Also, 10 points?" I muttered to myself.

[Yes, you receive 10 points for every Model Three you kill. The discrepancy you're noticing is because in addition every new Vanguard gets a free 100 points on first initializing, as well as one point for saving a life.]

"I see." Guess Jens had been good for something, after all.

[Also, I can probably help with your warning issue! There are a variety of reconnaissance drones available for purchase that might suit your needs. Alternatively, you could unlock the capability to hack into the local surveillance network, although that is a bit beyond you point-wise right now.]

I looked up at the nearest camera.

"That last one doesn't sound so bad."

[Indeed, although there are limitations to restricting yourself to already existing networks. For one, they aren't mobile, and for another the sensors are... lacking, when compared to Vanguard technology.]

"And I cannot afford it right now anyway. Fine, I'm sold on the drones, if it means I don't have to find the Antis by poking my nose around corners."

[Might I suggest the Light Data-Gathering Drones catalogue for fifty points? It would unlock a number of them, that can then be further specialized as you unlock more catalogues.]

"You might. What kind of drones can I get?"

[Well, what are you looking for?]

"Something with good mobility so I can scout around me and find Antis before they find me, preferably without them knowing I've found them."

[I see. I believe I have just the thing.]

"Excellent. Gimme."

Light Data-Gathering Drones unlocked! -50 points

Points reduced to... 16

New Purchase: Class I Autonomous Light Aerial Drone. -15 points

Points reduced to... 1

A small box arrived in front of me. I opened it, and out flew a small drone, about the size of an apple, with four fans set around a central body where a relatively large camera was mounted.

I synced my augs with it, and a window with its camera feed popped into my vision. I then ordered it to fly in a circle around me. It was... annoying. I kept having to think about where I wanted it to go. I certainly wouldn't be doing that while doing complex movement anytime soon.

"Eyon, this is a bit cumbersome to control." I grumbled while trying to come to grips with it.

[It is an entry-level reconnaissance drone. It does have pre-programmed maneuvers and you can even have it stay stationary relative to you if you so desire. Eventually, you can specialize and either have self-piloting drones, or upgrade your brain to be able to handle them more intuitively.]

"My brai… Ah! Can't you pilot it for me?" I asked excitedly.

[I'm afraid not. I do not act upon the world, I give you the tools to do so for yourself. I can, however, tell you that the Drone just spotted a Model Three.]

I flicked my view over to the drones camera to see a dog skulking through the planters towards me a row over. It would have been nearly invisible, but it was helpfully highlighted in my camera view.

I pointed my Hummingbird in the right direction, saw it lock on through the information fed it by the camera, and squeezed the button.

Another four Needles flew off, struck the plant-dog in the face and mulched it.

Target Eliminated!

Reward... 10 Points

"Well. At least it plays nicely with the H-bird." I sighed.