Shaggy wasn’t surprised to find Kek’zar’s trucks were free of any sort of mechanical or magical tracking system. They also had rotating license plates that Sybil was excited to take apart. Apparently the things activated freely once the truck was at a full stop. You could cancel the rotation from the truck’s cab. But if you didn’t, then the metal plate would swap several characters around.

Sybil had spent their brief journey back toward the Deli talking Shaggy and Rita’s ears off about the things. Ephemara and Tone were in the second truck, following along as Vud and Rin were in the cargo beds of each truck. Rita and Ephemara had been adamant about splitting the two up. The two didn’t really trust Tone, while the insectoid aliens were even more of a blind spot for them.

When Shaggy had asked his pack what kinds of aliens the two were, all he got were blank stares. Insectoid aliens were pretty common, but separating them out into different groups was a chore. So most people just gave them the blanket term of Insectoids. Rita and Ephemara had assured him that Vud and Rin had a name for their species. But only the two insectoids knew it.

Shaggy shook off that bit of news as Rita gave him a hard look. His wandering thoughts had obviously distracted her from her own speech. After Sybil had spoken at length about the truck’s rotating license plates, Rita had started in on an inventory. Shaggy had done his best to listen, but the information was so dry that his mind wandered off.

“Boss, I know this is boring. But could you at least pretend to listen? I mean, you just gave Sybil your undivided attention as she rattled on. Please extended me the same courtesy.”

Shaggy wiped a hand down his face. “Sorry. But does it really matter? I mean, most of this stuff is going to the Legion. Obviously, our people in the cave are going to have first pick. But do I need to know everything?”

“If shit goes missing? Yes! Which is why you should at least half-listen. Stop worrying about the Bug Brothers.”

“Now is that xenophobic? Do we know if they are brothers?” Sybil asked.

Rita nodded. “Yes, they are far too similar in body shape and in the mandibles. Their dissimilar discoloration aside. I would wager they are at least clutch mates.”

“I can’t help it, Rita. I’ve rarely run into insectoid species before. Mostly, they were trying to kill us. I’ve been having this niggling thought about what they would look like as werewolves.”

“You just met them?! You’re already thinking about asking them to join?!”

“I didn’t say that! But you’ve seen Cekrass. The guy is a giant, scaled werewolf. It’s impressive. So obviously it made me think what Vud or Rin would look like as a wolf.”

“He has a point.” Sybil nodded as she took a sharp corner.

“Okay, we’ve gotten off the point. Boss, we have two trucks full of weapons and armor. None of it is what I would call impressive. But we have enough to outfit our guys and then some. We could ship it back to Under-Town through the portal or they could take the long way. Honestly, I’m more in favor of the long way. I don’t want our people transferring crates of weapons and armor through the streets toward the deli.”

Shaggy chewed on his lip as he thought it over. His paranoia that the crates would be bugged was waning a bit in the face of the logistics. Sybil seemed to feel the same.

“Let’s just do a drive and dump at the Deli. Then we can load up a truck with want we don’t want and send it down. If anyone comes a-knocking, we can bust their heads in. We did it before.”

Shaggy looked between the two women. Sybil sat on his left and was leading the truck ever closer to their destination. Rita was to his right and was glaring at the shorter woman. They both had good points. Caution versus expedience. But Shaggy already knew which way he was leaning. By the enormous sigh coming from his right side, so did Rita.

“Fine. But I want round-the-clock patrols and Ephe is going to be working counter-intelligence the entire time. And YOU are telling her, boss.”

Shaggy grinned at the red-haired swordswoman. “Thanks, Rita. Why don’t you handle the logistics on the Lackeys while I’m doing that? Sybil, I want you building us a motor pool. Get us cars and trucks and kit them out. We’ve seen plenty lining the streets, but judging by the lack of people, I think they are free game. Grab some people and find a spot to set up.”

The short blonde woman grinned as she spun the truck’s wheel. “Alright boss! This is going to be so cool.”

They spent the next few minutes discussing their plans for growing their presence topside. Getting patrols scheduled and listening to Sybil rant about what she wanted to do. While Sybil herself wasn’t a mechanic, she had an almost extreme interest in cars. Really, after Rita and Shaggy had agreed on the patrol sizes and other subjects, Sybil went back to talking their ears off. Except this time it was all about what she was going to do with HER motor pool.

They pulled into a parking alcove a block away from the deli under the cover of the streetlamps. A few of the lights flickered here and there, but enough worked that the entire area was suffused with an eerie orange glow. Rita hurried after the truck’s cab even as Sybil was still talking about the perfect spot for her motor pool. Shaggy quickly followed his pack mate and made to walk to the deli. But a firm hand on his shoulder pulled him back.

“Nope. Go tell your second-in-command why we are dropping the stuff off here and her new marching orders. I’ll get the lackeys to come up.” Rita said, rushing off to the deli.

Shaggy grumbled as he spotted Ephemara and Tone exiting the second truck. The dark-haired woman wasn’t exactly glaring at Shaggy. But her expression didn’t bode well. Steeling himself, Shaggy walked over and sighed as Ephemara’s exasperation hit their shared Link.

“What the hell, boss? I thought this was too risky. Why are we dropping so close to the Deli?”

She ended her tirade in a whisper as Shaggy leaned in close. Tone was nearby, glancing around at everything. But Shaggy ignored the bat-alien as he explained.

“I called an audible. We can have Levy go over the equipment. But for now, the priority should be getting this stuff out and down. But that means I’m going to need you to do your spy shtick up here.”

“Boss…” Ephemara practically whined.

Shaggy stuck a hand up. “I know. You just got away from a spymaster job and you don’t want to restart everything again. But we need someone running counter-ops up here. Even if it’s just gathering information.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Shaggy. I hate being away from the pack. Ever since you marked me, being without a pack is damn near painful. I can only imagine how this shit’s going to feel with me being a Full Were.”

“Well, you’re not exactly a FULL Were. You still need to have your first shift and all that.”

“Not the point, boss. Wolves are pack creatures. I need my crew with me. Being off doing the spy shit is fun and all. But I don’t want to run it.”

Shaggy bit his lip. Not really wanting to order any of his crew to do something they didn’t want to do. A fake cough interrupted their conversation, and Tone waved at them cautiously.

“Hi…? It seems a position has opened up within your group? Seems like I could be helpful.”

Shaggy snorted. “No chance, Bat-Man. I don’t trust you enough to lead our spying efforts.”

Ephemara poked Shaggy’s chest forcefully. “What if I watched him? Trained him up as a replacement?”

“You know I’m a pretty excellent spy already, right? These aren’t just for show.” Tone said, pointing at his bat-like ear.

Shaggy gave a half-nod in acknowledgment as Ephe laughed. The dark-haired, pale woman disappeared from beside Shaggy. Tone’s eyes went wide and he stiffened in place as he seemed to stretch his senses. Shaggy watched as Ephemara’s slight form appeared behind the bat-alien. Her hand reaching around to his throat. She squeezed his trachea as the humanoid bat briefly struggled. Shaggy almost interceded before Ephemara let go and chuckled.

“Hahaha. There’s a lot more to the spy game than just listening in, Tone. But don’t worry. I’ll get you trained up. Step one, we are going to work on logistics and paperwork.”

Shaggy wasn’t sure Tone was listening as the poor alien was coughing into the pavement. But Ephemara didn’t seem to care as she picked up the skinny alien and gave Shaggy a wave.

“I’m going to get this set up, boss. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he’s trustworthy before I join back up with the pack.”

Shaggy didn’t have time to stop the slight woman as she ran off with Tone. He sighed and spun on the spot, coming face to face with red and green exoskeletons.

“Ahh!” Shaggy shouted and jumped back.

Vud and Rin stared at him impassively. Their insectoid faces tilting confusedly at his antics. Shaggy blew out a breath and collected himself.

“Silent pair of bastards, aren’t ya?”

Rin turned to Vud before responding. “I guess that is correct. We never knew our father. But most insectoid races are matriarchal. So all know of their mothers.”

“We are also highly skilled at moving silently.” Vud added in their chittering language.

Shaggy watched the pair’s mandibles vibrate as they spoke the human language. But it still wasn’t processing how they generated sound. He shook it off as game logic before he came back to the conversation. The pair were just standing near him and staring.

“Can I help both of you?”

Rin’s ant-like head tilted again. “We are awaiting orders from the patriarch.”

“What do you wish of us?”

“Uhh… well, we are going to need to offload the trucks and get this stuff squared away. You two made quick work of the loading, but we have more people coming up now.”

Both insectoids nodded amicably before they went back to staring. Shaggy shifted under their gaze before a question he had bubbled to the surface.

“I really hope this isn’t rude, but…”

“You wish to know of our origins?” Rin took up as Shaggy trailed off.

Nodded happily, Shaggy watched as Rin and Vud shared a look. It was Vud who spoke next.

“The name of our species is impossible for the humanoid vocal system. But your scientist dubbed us the Fusus Formica.”

Rin nodded. “A holdover from this world’s scientific Latin. It means…”

“BOSS! We got news!” Tom shouted from down the street.

Shaggy turned to see Tom, Stanley and a load of Lackeys marching their way. Giving a casual glance to the insectoid brothers, Shaggy turned to see what Tom was yelling about. The short man was skidding to a stop as he spotted the two insectoids. But Stanley didn’t even bat an eye.

“Boss, there’s a news story going on right now that Rita thinks you’ll find interesting.”

“Really?” Shaggy quirked an eyebrow.

“It’s about our neighborhood, boss.” Tom said idly, still staring at Rin and Vud.

Some Lackeys had pulled to a stop as Stanley and Tom gave Shaggy the news. With a sigh, Shaggy waved at the Bug Brothers.

“These two are Rin and Vud. They are going to be working with us. I need everyone to get these trucks unloaded as fast as possible. We don’t want to be caught out at night by some overzealous gang or our new friends in white. Sybil is in charge.”

“Oh, boss…” Tom whined as the Lackeys moved to follow orders.

“Get to work Tom. No slacking off. Stanley, keep an eye on him.”

“Come on! I don’t need a babysitter. Especially not from the youngest member of the pack.”

Shaggy said nothing as he rushed off to the diner. He wondered which of their recent endeavors had made the news. Fighting at Kek’zar’s shopping market? Maybe their more recent assault on the weapon storage. Rita had knocked down a wall just a few hours ago. That shit was bound to make the news. As he rounded the corner to the deli, Shaggy looked skyward. He wondered if any news drones were swooping around. He almost missed the constant telltale buzzing of drones.

He passed a few Lackeys who were sweeping out in front of the diner. Passing through the broken door, Shaggy looked around. Vick, Stanley and Cekrass had done some good work cleaning the place up. There was still a lot of structural damage, but Shaggy hoped they could get that squared away with some renovators. Vick and Cekrass were hovering over the deli’s counter, their faces poised over something.

As Shaggy got closer, he noticed the blue glow of a tablet. A clear voice was announcing the weather for the upcoming week. Shaggy stepped beside Vick and looked down as an alien in a gray suit explained about chances of clouds and other such things. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow at Vick and Cekrass.

“One second, boss.” Vick said puffing on a cigarette and nodding at Cekrass.

The big lizard-alien nodded and took a clawed finger and swiped it across the tablet. The news report rewound as Cekrass tried to find the right spot on the video. Shaggy watched the image shoot backward in reverse before the picture-perfect image of the newscaster was replaced with a new one.

Now, instead of being in a studio, the video was showing a bug-eyed blue alien in a black suit. He was standing next to a shorter human-looking woman, and the two were shaking hands in front of a block of apartments. Shaggy read the ticker at the bottom as Cekrass hit play. It said that the head of the HLO and the Mayor of Austin had just brokered a historic deal.

A clipped news anchor narrated the video as the blue alien and woman waved to a crowd of people.

“That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The chairman of the HLO, Ozarious and our own Mayor Kennedy have just finalized a deal to see the first HLO sponsored academy to open in Austin. While no statements have gone out about where the new ‘Hero Academy’ will be located. Mayor Kennedy and Ozarious himself were seen in and around Brentwood. The pair appeared to be talking personally with store owners and building managers.”

Shaggy grimaced as he watched the obviously staged handshakes and smiles of the store owners. The blue alien, Ozarious, seemed to always have a fake smile plastered on his face as he shook hands and greeted people on the street. He recognized some buildings the mayor and the CEO were walking near, and Shaggy got a sinking feeling.

“I see you get how fucked we are.” Vick said, lighting another cigarette.

Shaggy held up a hand. “Okay. This looks shitty, but they could also be out near the North Loop, or maybe Crestview.”

Vick snorted as Cekrass swiped a finger across the tablet again. This time fast forwarding. He found what he was looking for quickly as he jabbed the pause button and turned the tablet back to Shaggy. Shaggy’s stomach dropped as he spotted a certain white-skinned alien with horns whispering to the HLO Chairman. The two were just barely in frame, but Shaggy could clearly make out the face of Mr. White.

“Fuck!”