I rounded the corner to a scene of… controlled chaos, actually. I was expecting some sort of nightmare that would send me to therapy for a year. Instead, I would still be needing therapy, I’m sure, but the scene was horrific in a good way.

  Ahead of me lay the entrance to a shelter, a squat concrete block, decorated to be a little less of an eye sore. It had a solid fence around it. More of a palisade than a simple barrier. The gates were closed, and behind it were a handful of cops, taking cover behind their cars, firing into a crowd of Antithesis. A horde of a few dozen Model Threes were pressing at the gate, some trying to scramble over. A swarm of small, bird-like aliens hovered above, but those that got too close were swatted out of the air by a handful of small guns mounted to the front of the shelter. I could see the big blast door at the front of the shelter was still open, but only slightly. The cops must have been delaying as long as they could before they sealed it.

  Mixed in amongst the Model Threes were some new aliens. They were essentially walking balls of tentacles. Several of them, and a whole bunch of Model Threes, lay dying. The aliens seemed to be trying to rip the gate open. I wasn't much of an expert, but the situation seemed… well, not in hand, it was shitty, but not desperate. The cops seemed to be relatively calm, the aliens not making any progress. It was a stalemate. But, I had a feeling that a small push either way would change things.

  It was up to me to be that push.

  “Alyrix,” I said, peering at the scene from around the corner, “That's a lot of aliens.”

  It is. Think of all the points!

  “Got anything better than Death Rocks? I don't think I can throw them fast enough.”

  I most certainly do, what sort of thing do you have in mind?

  I thought for a moment. “Got anything that explodes?”

  Lena, I have more explosives than you could possibly imagine, many of which are available in your Throwable Weapons catalogue. How does a self-propelled explosive javelin sound?

  I grinned.

  “Fucking awesome, that's how it sounds.”

  Fantastic. It will cost you five points per unit, three or four of them should be enough to eliminate most of that horde.

  “Make it happen then.”

  New purchase: Self-Propelled High-Explosive Javelin times x 3.

  Points reduced to: 49

  A trio of javelins appeared before me, points stuck into the ground to hold them upright. They had an elongated base, like the cone of a rocket engine.

  “How does this work?” I asked.

  Same as your Death Rocks. Brace, throw, and enjoy.

  I grabbed the first javelin, and stepped into the street. I gripped it the way they made us do it in PE, lined up, and gave it a toss.

  The thing flew out of my hand like a missile. I guess it was a rocket engine on the back. It impacted the alien horde and exploded. The results were spectacular. Bits of alien went everywhere. I giggled.

  “Awesome!”

  The cops seemed to think it was less awesome though. They swore as they were showered with alien debris and little chunks of stuff, ducking for cover.

  …oops. I should have warned them.

  Problem for later, now I had the aliens’ attention. Luckily for me, I still had two javelins. Unluckily for them, they were still grouped up.

  I grabbed and threw the second javelin, followed by the third. Two more explosions converted xenos to gore in the most satisfying way. There was just something about the manual touch that made it so deeply rewarding.

  The three explosions had thinned the horde, but not eliminated it. There were still a handful of Model Threes, some injured, some not, and one of those tentacle ones. I reached for my Death Rocks. I aimed for the tentacle one first. I had no idea what it was, so it dying before I found out seemed like a good idea. It was far away, but a big target, and my Death Rock hit home. The alien died with a hole in its… face? It was hard to tell.

  The cops recovered at about the same time as the Model Threes. They gunned a couple down as I tossed another pair of rocks. That left one more Model Three, one leg trailing uselessly. I didn't waste a rock on this one, instead I bashed its skull in with my bat. I probably hit it a few more times than strictly necessary, but hey, a girl had to work off some stress.

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  Panting, I straightened to survey my handywork. Okay yeah. Therapy was going to be needed after this. The street was just covered in gore.

  Nicely done. That was a nice collection of points.

  “How many?” I asked.

  Targets eliminated. Reward: 218 points. New Total: 264

  I blinked. Holy shit.

  “That's a lot of fucking points.”

  It's quite the haul, yes. And more are on the way.

  “More?” I asked, looking around. Sure enough, there was a pack of aliens rounding the corner down the road. A bunch of model threes, a couple of the tentacle ones, and, right in the middle something else. Six legs, boney plates. It looked like someone glued an extra set of legs and some floor tiles to a wombat.

  “Alyrix, what in the fuck is that?”

  It's a model of Antithesis, you should kill it.

  “I know that! What sort? And what are those tentacle ones?”

  The tentacle ones are Model Fours. They are versatile and common, even as a hive grows. The big one is a Model Six-C. It's a variant of the Model Six that emphasises extra mass and armour in exchange for reduced agility. They have recently begun to be produced by local hives.

  “How in the fuck do I kill it?”

  The thing was huge. It was also getting closer.

  Its frontal plate is impervious to your current arsenal. However, you do have options.

  “What options? Make it fast, it's coming.”

  How about a version of the self-propelled javelin with a high explosive anti-tank warhead?

  “Sure, good, whatever, gimme gimme.”

  New purchase: Mark One HEATstick

  A javelin appeared in my hand. I once again thanked the aliens for being large targets as I lined my throw up. I released, and the javelin rocketed towards the Model Six. It was, if I say so myself, a fantastic throw. It hit the fucker square in the face. The result was anticlimactic. There was a thump as it hit and stuck.

  “Is that it?” I asked.

  Then a loud, screaming hiss erupted. The Model Six paused, trembled, then the back of it exploded in a geyser of gore, bone and dead alien. Chunks and boiling ooze flew so far and fast they would be scraping them off the clouds.

  I didn't have time to admire my work. I still had a whole pack of littler alien shits running at me. The death of the big one didn't scare them. If anything, it just made them angrier.

  “Alyrix, more javelins, boom, not HEAT.”

  Another javelin appeared in my hand and I tossed it at the oncoming Antithesis. I followed it with a second. High explosive joy tore through the aliens like a fat kid in a candy store.

  This was the single greatest moment of my life.

  Then, a Model Three emerged from the debris cloud to lunge at my face. I squealed and threw myself to the side. The alien missed, and was gunned down by the cops, who had decided to stick their heads back up out of cover and lend me a hand.

  I gave them a grateful wave, then turned back to the aliens. I was getting distracted.

  I brained two more Model Threes, and a Model Four with Death Rocks, before I was forced to start clubbing some of the small bird aliens out of the sky with my bat. The little shits were swooping me from above like magpies. Unfortunately for them, I was well acquainted with being swooped by magpies, so I clubbed them out of the air with satisfaction. I mistimed one swing, and got a cut down my cheek as a reward.

  I hit that alien extra hard on its next attempt.

  What sort of absolute cunt hits a girl in the face?

  An alien one, apparently.

  No time to dwell, the distraction from the bird ones meant I had taken my eyes off the rest, and the last survivors were getting close.

  The two remaining Model Threes were riddled with bullets from the cops who were either incredibly confident in their marksmanship or assumed I was bullet proof. I dearly hoped it was the former.

  The Model Four whipped its tentacles at me and I threw myself to the ground.

  “Rock!”

  A Death Rock appeared in my palm and I side armed it at the alien. It punched a hole through the thing's centre mass and it died the horrible death it deserved.

  The sudden silence was deafening. All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

  Then Alyrix, as helpful as always, chimed in.

  Targets eliminated. Reward: 239 points. New total: 485.

  I didn't respond. I just lay there for a bit. I was tired. It was still way too fucking hot, and I was covered in alien bits.

  I wasn't sure how long I was there, but footsteps made me look up. One of the cops was approaching.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked, with a hint of genuine concern.

  I lifted my arm and flapped it vaguely.

  “Yeah, just… tired.”

  I rolled my head to look at him. He was in his mid to late thirties, and was wearing bulletproof vest with “Australian Federal Police” written on it.

  Interesting, he wasn't an ACT cop. His vest had a lot of pockets. I wonder what he kept in there.

  “Ma’am, it would be safer for you to rest inside the fence. There's shade there too.”

  I groaned. I didn't want to move, but he had a point. Still, inertia was strong.

  “Carry me,” I moaned dramatically.

  To my surprise, he did. He bent down and carefully lifted me, carrying me like a child behind the fence and placing me down in the shade. I was too surprised to think to object.

  “Umm, thanks?” I said, blushing with embarrassment. I was going to be leaving out this part of the story.

  We sat there in awkward silence for a bit, before I decided I should probably say something. Something wise and Samurai like.

  “So, you guys are cops?”

  Wow.

  I ignored Alyrix, face burning. Why was small talk harder than fighting aliens?

  “AFP, yes,” the guy responded. I could see a few of the others hiding sniggers.

  “And everyone is okay? Do you guys need anything? Is anyone hurt inside?”

  “Nothing major, just the usual collection of scrapes on the civilians. We’re not doing great on ammo, but we have reinforcements coming to begin extraction soon.”

  “Neat. Anything I can do to help?”

  He considered, “A sweep for more Antithesis or survivors would be appreciated.”

  I nodded, “I can do that. Soon. How long until your backup gets here?”

  His eyes glassed over for a second, the telltale sign of someone checking their augs.

  “About seven minutes,” he replied after a moment.

  “Cool, mind if I hang out here until they arrive? I gotta buy shit anyway,” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “That would be helpful, yes.”

  “Excellent,” I said, "Alyrix, how many points did you say I had?”

  485.

  I nodded with satisfaction. I wanted to buy some really cool shit.