Annie stretched out her legs and arms, enjoying the absence of pain in her bones. Ugly scars still covered her skull, yet cracks in her bones had finally healed. Torn muscles were reconnected and healed, once more, she could continue her usual routine of training before the graves of her parents. She asked Zero for some iron weights and received two ginormous ruined iron slabs. Formerly, this black iron adorned the armor of the Zero, serving as part of her chest plate, but the warlord had long since replaced them during repairs on her armor and left them laying around in the warehouse in her den, never finding time to reforge them into something suitable. Training with both slabs of iron at once was too straining for Annie right now, so she used chains to strap one to her back, as she was doing squats, pushups, running and jumping courses. According to Zero, wolfkins grow stronger by dominating others and by winning in combat. Annie had no one to fight this, yet rigorous training was making her muscles grow bigger with each day, bit by tiny bit. She'll be able to do push-ups with both iron slabs with ease one day.
Annie unlocked the lock on the chains, easily catching the metal slab with a single hand as her communicator called. She smiled, despite the sweat in her eyes. The slab was still a bit heavy, but not as much as it was weeks ago. She put metal on the ground, looking at the message on the communicator.
"Check it out!" Came a text message from Virginia, with added images to the file. Annie frowned in annoyance but calmed herself. She did ask the fellow wolf hag about help in gathering images for the site of the Wolf Tribe.
Her brows went up as she looked at the images with increased worry. The first set was something normal, sunset, dawn, ruins of an underground city. A glow was rising from the ruins of the city, the deadly poison of the old world was rising to a clear night sky, painting it with pink color, giving the light that was coming from shining stars above in the skies the orange-pink light, surrounding the whole area in otherworldly light. Virginia, in crimson power armor without a helmet, was posing with a normie cub on her shoulder, some kilometers away from the ruined city. Other normies, cubs and adults, surrounded her and a few members of her pack. On the ground before them lay broken forms of insectoid warriors, assembled in "Missin Accomplished" words. Annie assumed that Virginia simply misspelled the first word. Probably on purpose.
This was good, this was something she could work with. This was actually an inspiring picture, much unlike the pictures of the dead raiders that Virginia had been sending her at first.
"You are the best! I will be taking these ones." Annie quickly replied to the wolf hag. Zero insisted that she enlist the help of Virginia. Even Alpha sent a message that she was ok with this idea, as long as it doesn’t hinder the missions.
"I still don’t get what was wrong with the first pics. These were just raiders. You know what they do to people. Ain’t no one will miss them. " Virginia replied.
"Cubs are visiting our site from time to time. You think it is fine for them to see freaking dead bodies? Iterna will ban access to our site in an instant!" Annie typed the response angrily.
"Eh, what cubs didn’t see the dead bodies?"
"Normal ones." Annie quickly replied, "Anyway, thanks for the great job. Please send images of how you trade with locals, help them, and similar stuff. Something inspiring."
"Dead bodies usually inspire fear in our enemies."
"Or make them fight to the last, if they decide that we show no mercy. No dead bodies, no human blood. Helping hand, smiling cubs and scenery. Nice scenery, not a scary one! This is what I need!"
"The hell is "nice scenery" even mean?! Fine, asshole, I will see what I can do." Virginia sent a message and turned off her online status.
Annie rolled her eyes. The Wastes were a large region between the Ravaged Lands, lands uncontrolled by the state, and the Core Lands, heartland of the state. Over the years, the Core Lands has been expanding itself, terraforming the surrounding area into something more suitable to live in. Where there used to be deserts as far as the eye could see, the land was now covered in greenery. Where sandstorms once ravaged the surface, now rain was calmly falling on the ground, giving life to mighty trees underneath. Humanity was slowly but steadily regaining its footing after the Extinction.
Yet, with this came some problems. The Wastes were getting smaller and smaller. The wolfkins preferred an overheated climate, thus shamans were driving the Tribe closer and closer to the Ravaged Lands, moving away from the creeping green. It will take decades before the first terraforming machine even comes here, yet shamans are already thinking about an exodus into the Ravaged Lands. The Dynast, sole ruler of the Reclamation Army, also wanted the Ravaged Lands for his own goals. The goal of the Reclaimers was a simple one: to unite the entire planet, restore the world, and bring peace and prosperity to all. The Ravaged Lands were a long-time place where the interests of Iterna and Reclaimers were crushed against each other. Both sides possessed weapons of mass destruction, and both sides banned their usage. In order to avoid escalation that might bring another Extinction, diplomats from both sides worked overtime to make a proper deal on how to split spheres of influence. In the meantime, Wyrm Lord was sending parties to the Ravaged Lands to answer calls for help from locals. After all, if locals joined willingly, it was not a conquest but a peaceful reunification. Virginia was part of one such party, tasked with protecting the village from rampaging insectoids.
Annie shrugged her head, collecting her training gear and dragging it back to her tent. Who cares about politics anyway? Politics is best left to smart people, someone like her will only mess things up. She leaped out of her tent, not bothering to close the door behind her. There was nothing of value inside anyway.
She dashed up to the tower, flung open the door, and jumped into the chair, turning on the terminal. Zero was absent, and this was good. The warlord would have undoubtedly chastised Annie for working overtime again and for not taking a shower before sitting in the armchair.
But the photos were so good! She had to post them right now because people often asked what exactly the wolfkins were doing in the Ravaged Lands. The Wolf Tribe led a reclusive life. Their villages rarely had guests. It was natural that stupid normies and other new breeds were wary of them.
Well, maybe now they will see that we do not do anything bad, thought Annie, uploading images. It was a fool's hope, of course, but for the wishes of Zero, Annie will give up her all.
"Miss Annie, I presume?" Asked a cold voice behind her, and the woman jumped in the air, landing on her feet while she turned around.
I forgot to close the door! Panicked thought came as Annie looked at the man in the black military coat before herself. A helmet from an anti-heat suit was on his belt. A single medal, in the form of a silver eye, was on his chest. The black leather cap was on the brown hair of the man, his skin was highly tanned, clearly as a result of overexposure to the harsh climate of the Wastes. Black eyes calmly looked at Annie, while one hand, covered by a leather glove, was on his belt, next to a holstered pistol.
"Who are you? This is a private den of the warlord, I demand that you leave immediately." Annie demanded to know, feeling sudden fear. She was unsure why, normie before her was barely a threat to her. Even if this dude was a raider, the bones of female wolfkins were tough enough to endure even bullets, should he somehow reach for his gun in time.
"Angoro Viscario, lieutenant from the investigation bureau," The man nodded his head in a sign of respect, yet made no attempt to leave. Instead, the agent lazily looked around, as Annie felt increasing unnatural fear, "We received a request from you about your sister. I am sad to inform you, that the investigation has given no results so far, but we do not lose hope. Truth always comes out, miss Annie…"
"Wolf hag Annie." She corrected him.
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"Of course," He said, without bothering to say her rank, "As I was saying, we failed. For now. My presence here, on the other hand, is because of something you did, Annie."
"I already told you to leave. This is a private den. And use my rank, when you speak with me." Annie clenched her fists and forcibly relaxed herself. He was looking to rile her up, no doubt. This is why he came without Zero around. Wave of fear hit again and with surprise, she noticed how the left eye of Angoro twitched, his hand moved closer to the gun. What is going on?
"As I was searching for your sister, I received information from the postal service that someone was writing to our… fellows in Iterna and Oathtakers. I was surprised to learn that it was you. So, I can't blame you for caring about finding your sister, little Miss Annie, but do you understand what you have done and how it makes us looks? Obviously not, this is why I decided to come in person and speak with you abo…" The agent stopped as his eyes widened. Annie could feel it in her soul, the feeling of inevitable mutilation, the feeling of approaching pain. Out of the blue, it became harder to breathe, and she swallowed drool loudly to break the imaginary blockade in her throat, uncaring if she would look stupid to the agent. He too was looking at her with something akin to desperation. For a moment, they were close to jumping into the embrace of each other, like a pair of scared cubs.
"Interesting," Came a cold voice from the exit. Annie knew this voice and tried to look as small as possible. The tanned skin of the agent was suddenly becoming pale, while he struggled to turn around and face the newcomer, "Tell me, what law exactly did the wolf hag Annie break by writing to a neutral country? I admit that I never heard of such a law."
A monster stepped inside the tower, but it was a familiar monster. Each paw of warlord Alpha had only three long fingers, but these fingers ended up with long, thick claws. Despite giving a fake impression of a dull instrument, the mere touch of her claws was capable of rending steel asunder. Her claws were the size of her fingers, it was impossible for her to retract them. The fingers of her three-fingered feet ended up with long, curved claws which produced clicking sounds as Alpha moved around. Despite this, when the warlord wanted to, she could move around in full silence. Her wrists were thicker than Annie's entire body. No fur was on the body of this monstrous warlord, only a short topknot of crimson hair was on her square-shaped head. The wolfkins usually had brown or light skin underneath their fur, yet the skin of Alpha was that of the palest snow, giving a stark contrast with her burning amber eyes. The whites of her eyes were of a regal purple color, snout of Alpha was shorter than that of a regular wolfkin, and her ears were round. Alpha was dressed in a green military coat, leather boots on her feet had openings for claws, underneath the coat Alpha wore a sweater and camo pants. Three bright medals were on the left side of the coat, one bronze medal for bravery and two silver ones, one in the form of a star for rescuing comrades under fire and another in the form of a triangle, gifted to those who managed to lead the civilian population out of a war zone.
She knew?! Annie wondered aloud as Alpha's massive form approached them. The warlord could not dress herself, not with her unnaturally sharp claws. Someone had to help her dress herself. Annie knew it, because several times she herself was tasked with providing help to the Alpha. In combat, Alpha was probably unstoppable. But everyday life was hard for her, she had to use help to do many basic necessities and use custom power armor and communicators in combat. The paws of Alpha were not capable of creating and maintaining stuff, only of destroying and tearing asunder things. The only reason why she could be here, fully dressed, was because she knew about the coming of the agent.
"Warlord Alpha. "Your presence here is… Is…" Angoro stuttered, his teeth loudly clacking as he spoke. Sweat ran down his brow. Annie felt her own legs tremble all of a sudden, try as she might, she just couldn’t shake off the sense of utter despair and fear that arrived along with Alpha.
The warlord looked at both people before her. Massive eyelids lower themselves, hiding the blinding light of her eyes for the briefest of moments. The warlord inhaled air. And then the sense of dread disappeared, as if someone turned on the light in the dark room. Alpha looked inquisitory at an agent, awaiting an explanation.
"Miss Annie broke n…"
"You will address a soldier of my kin as wolf hag Annie. Insult her once more at your own peril." The words of Alpha were calm, no sense of anger or threat could be heard behind them. Yet the agent swallowed suddenly, as if something nearly hit him. As Alpha spoke, Annie saw two rows of fangs inside the jaws of warlord, the front row was filled with thin and sharp fangs specifically designed to create clean, gushing wounds. The fangs in the second row were thicker, forming a set of truly mighty chompers that were capable of rending any bone to dust and biting through any muscle.
"But of course. No disrespect was implied. Wolf hag Annie committed no crime; I've simply come to inform her that some sensible things should be kept in secret from other countries. It will make us look bad if other intelligence agencies decide that we can’t…"
"I see. For this reason, you dared to enter the den of the warlord, uninvited. For this reason, you sneak on the wolf hag this late in the night. Disrespect might not be implied, yet threat was implied, am I right?" Alpha asked bluntly, staring down at the man. The clawed hand moved, beckoning Annie to come forward, "Wolf hag. There is a communicator on my belt," Alpha said, pointing at the oversized device, "Dial the number eight-six-point-one, at once." Annie hurriedly jumped toward the warlord, pressing the numbers on the device. The breath of Alpha is similar to an arctic wind that the wolf hag saw on television. Cool and cold, with a hint of stillness in it. Annie's head barely reached the warlord's waist, and she had to stretch herself to reach the device.
"Not threat, warlord. Merely… a warning, nothing more. We merely wanted to preserve the image of... The agent tried to weasel his way out of the problem, looking at the exit behind the warlord.
"The only reason why our image might look bad is through the incompetence of our own actions. True professionals care not about the opinions of rabble." A new, cold voice said from the communicator. Whoever it was on the other side sounded like a person who was used to being obeyed at once. The sound of flowing water was on the other side of the communicator, along with loud music. In Annie's opinion, Melody resembled a series of cannonballs falling upon the land, accompanied by the hoarse voice of a singer that overused words like "Death" and "Push" far too much. Something clicked at the other side of the communicator and the song stopped, leaving just the sounds of water and a same cold voice, "Alpha? Why are you bothering me during my relaxation time and who is this idiot who speaks such foolish things?"
"One of the agents from the bureau swung by and tried to intimidate one of my kin. On behalf of the wolf hag, I demand satisfaction." Alpha was still looking at the agent.
"Tried to? So this fool failed even at that? The height of incompetence. Wolf hag, I demand a full report." The cold voice asked once more, and Annie looked at the warlord pleadingly. Shew was not used to reporting anyone. Besides, nothing bad happened anyway…
She shrank down when the warlord looked at her, before immediately standing at attention. Words came out of her mouth, flowing like a river. She tried to explain the situation as best she could, without making any more problems for anyone.
"…So you see, this is no big deal, mister…"
"I am captain Ivar. And I am the one who will decide if this situation is important or not," A hint of steel could be heard in the voice, when the strange man stopped Annie’s verbal flow, "Sergeant Viscario, you have disappointed me greatly. I could’ve forgiven the fact that you decided not to inform me about your little operation, even though all new breeds of the Wolf Tribe are in the care of my brother. My brother and I are merciful beings, we would have gladly overlooked this minor insult. I would’ve even forgiven your boldness of entering the den of the respected warlord uninvited, since this is only partially your fault, due to the door being left open. But a combination of both? Incompetence at intimidation? Boldness to be here, worrying about the image of the bureau, despite your utter incompetence at finding a missing person? No, no clemency from me anymore, even my mercy has its limits," The voice told the pale agent in the tone that sounded like a judge who was giving a death sentence to a criminal, "Wolf hag Annie, you may claim satisfaction. State the desirable punishment, anything will do. Within the laws of the state, of course."
"Please, there is no need for any punishment! It was just a misunderstanding, caused by my…" Annie said as she desperately tried to find some way to end this strange discussion. The words of captain Ivar were scaring her. He sounded casually dismissive, almost like if he was fully fine with killing the agent here and now.
"If you will not choose a punishment, I will." Ivar responded to the plea with the same cold voice.
"Then…" Annie looked at Alpha, but the warlord ignored the woman, looking instead at the pale-looking agent with the eyes of a predator. Her tongue moved across her lips, giving her the impression of a predator that is eager to try the meat of its prey. The agent tried to stand with dignity, despite a hint of fear in his eyes, "Lieutenant Viscario told me that he searched for my sister, right? Then let him continue to look after her, if this is okay."
"Hm… A lack of punishment is not a proper substitute for justice… But I will allow it this time. Sergeant Viscario. You have heard of the wolf hag. Find her sister. I will also send my own official complaint to the bureau. Dare not to even step close to the new breeds under the command of the Third Army without informing me first. Am I understood?" Even Annie could understand the threat that was in the voice of the captain.
"Of course, sir." The agent bowed quickly, looking at Annie with gratitude. She just turned away angrily. He was still just one of the normies. She wasn’t sure why she bothered to help him get out of trouble.