Okay, so, let's recap: I got attacked by an upgraded corruptor, Synais says I'm emitting some kind of weird energy signal, there are still a ton of magnetic anomalies opening up around what used to be the Southwestern United States (and thankfully nowhere else), and my son and Cassidy's daughter built a gigantic vault to hold anyone who gets displaced by further anomaly activity until I can send them home. We up to speed? Good.

Now, where's the nearest anomaly?

"Commander, that would be in this sector - what used to be Arizona, specifically the Grand Canyon."

Thank you, Fide. Also, how is Vivian doing?

"Splendid, sir. Her recovery is going smoothly."

"I see. Alert me if anything changes...oh, and make sure she has a view screen - I want her to see what is happening when we deal with this next anomaly."

"Understood."

XXXXXX

The Condor Dropship deposited me two kilometers South of my target, where a group of genprey were fighting a sawtooth for dominance. Theseus and Zoe had been recalled following new developments in the New World, and were now being deployed to a frozen island know as the Hoarfrost Ridge. Geralt had elected to stay a while longer, though I wasn't exactly sure where he was right now - he could be in the heart of Eclipse territory, really, given how his adventures tended to go. Aloy was still on her adventures, though it seemed that she was pretty close to finding the secrets she needed to know about the old world.

All of that was put aside, though, for I had to focus on figuring out what was causing these anomalies - and how to stop them.

Carefully, I made my way across the desert, taking pains to avoid the larger machines and monsters in the region. Briefly, I saw a Deviljho fighting against a Thunderjaw, with the machine actually managing to fell the World Eater. As I got closer to the anomaly site, though, things began to get more odd in appearance - the ground, for instance, started to look like it was the haven of burrowing mammals, for the more or less flat landscape had been replaced by a set of tunnel entrances and exits - all far larger than would necessary for most burrowing mammals. Just what hte hell had come through these anomalies?

"Hell if I know, commander."

"You're input was unnecesary, but appreciated."

"Thank you sir-"

Without warning, a genprey pair tumbled into me, sening the three of us hurtling toward the ground. Rolling out of the way, I watched as the two creatures battled it out, only after a moment realizing that one of the creatures was not a genprey - rather, it looked a...regular old raptor. Specifically, the Hollywood Velociraptor: human sized, scaly skin, terrifying appearance, and so on. Oddly, though, this one had a sort of feathery fuzz on its head, neck, back and tail, which resembled hair more than feathers, but that was semantics at this point.

Oddly, though, I felt like I knew what work this raptor came from. What that exact work was, though, lay beyond me.

The raptor swiftly defeated its opponent, tearing out the bird wyvern's throat in a matter of moments. One traq dart later, though, and it was curled up in a bundle, sleeping like a baby.

Then, to my surprise, three more raptors joined it. I tranquilized them too, and then called in four conservation drones to pick up my catches.

"These raptors look like anthing from the archives, Fide?"

"Haven;t found a match yet, but I will keep looking-"

Any other words my second in command wanted to say were lost as the ground started to shake. Then, without warning, a huge form forced itself out of the ground mere meters away from me.

The form was decidedly insectoid, what with six limbs, hard caapace, and antennae. Also, good god, those mouth parts were hideous! Seriously, why had evolution granted insects such horrifying chompers? WHY?!

"I do not know, my former pawn, but I suggest you defeat that thing quickly - there's more heading your way."

"So you're up. Good. Also, how many?"

"Looks like at least five, possibly more - given their size, I think they made the tunnel entrances you saw earlier."

"Eh, figures. This place needs to get fumigated ."

"Elling just asked me if we could throw some super pesticides into the tunnels, then use mortars to ignite the pesticides to make sure they stay dead."

"...That's certainly overkill, though I won;t complain."

"Like you have a right to do that. Anyway, try to kill that thing quickly and bring back samples - be they my forces or yours, they can get stuff done faster if they have good samples to work with."

"True."

The bug charged at me, ready to make me into a meal. Without missing a beat, I pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin, and shoved it down the beast's throat. I swiftly rolled to the side, and a moment later, a veritable flood of bug juice flew out of the critter's mouth, at which point it keeled over, dead.

Hoisting the carcass over me, I started runing. Not even a moment passed before a bug emerged next to me, followed by another, and another. Soon five were following me, all trying to turn me into lunch. I easily mange to outmaneuver them, however, and it wasn't long before I was at the pickup point. There, the condor dropship was ready to pick me up, while a pack of Hyenas opened fire upon the bugs, giving me an opening to escape.

Defeated, the bugs tried running back into the tunnels. I, however, was not going to give them a chance to become an invasive species. Using a fabricator I'd added to this model of condor, I hastily constructed a...specialized version of the lanka, took aim at one of the bugs, and fired.

Ten minutes later, and the first bug chunks finally hit the ground.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Yeah, back to updating this. Expect more chapters and another Christmas episode soon.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!