"…Ready." Kayleen reported to the warlord, as she finished checking out the equipment of her pack.

Annie nervously swallowed drool underneath her helmet. They were inside M43, the flying vehicle of the Reclaimers. The M43 was an outdated model, rarely used in actual combat by now. Its armor was thick, yet its lack of defensive weapons and even basic flares made it a poor choice for actual combat. But for today’s mission, such a machine was fully fine.

They were six kilometers above the ground, hidden among the region's middle clouds. The wolfkins hated air and Dragena constantly pushed her own pack, forcibly removing their fear of air by making them land from the air over and over again. Annie was content with the massive jetpack strapped to the back of her power armor, she knew that this device will not allow her to crash to her death.

Aside from the glowing lenses from the wolfkins' power armor, pure darkness reigned supreme in the cargo hall of the vehicle. Soon enough, massive doors will open and packs will be unleashed upon the ground, like drops of mystical rain.

New goal for myself. I want to experience actual rain at least once in my life. Annie made the decision to distract herself.

"Pack C is already in place and awaits operation start." Another wolf hag reported. Pack C was comprised of scouts under the command of Carty. They were hiding close to the enemy base, preparing to use their sniper rifles from an elevator position.

"Pack C reports that the enemies are not expecting your arrival. They are drinking and acting rowdy as usual." Lieutenant Angoro Viscario reported. He was the man who enlisted the help of the wolfkins for this operation.

"It is to be expected. The soldiers of the Bento Tribe are very through, they have killed anyone of worth by now. Those who escaped and captured traders here are just a bunch of parasites. It was easy enough for servants of captain Scorpio to split the gang with promises of forgiveness and a fresh start." Dragena responded for the first time. Upon coming to the M43, she simply spent time standing in the corner, watching how her wolf hags prepared their forces for the operation.

"Yes, reports show that our "informants" are all confined to a single warehouse. They are mostly teens and youngsters, guilty only of stealing. Killing others is somewhat of a scary thing to them, so they are willing to surrender." Kayleen checked the updates that she received from Carty.

Annie summoned the map on her own screen. Red, yellow, and green dots were filling the surface of the long abandoned subway station. Red dots were the spotted soldiers of the enemy, yellow dots were informants, and green dots were hostages. In the world before the Extinction, this place served as a hub for transportation. Post Extinction, this place was pushed onto the surface by some cataclysm that changed the surrounding area forever. Some of the old structures had survived the centuries, and the area was now used as a temporary rest stop for traders traveling from the Wastes to the Ravaged Lands. All was well, until a group of thugs arrived from the Ravaged Lands, escaping from the justice of the Bento Tribe, after Bentos finally snapped the back of the largest gang in their lands. The group was big, with nearly four hundred people. They took over the place with ease, eliminating all resistance. Not desiring to risk the lives of police and border guard members, the army command wanted to turn the place into dust with artillery. But after some of the raiders were contacted by the agents of captain Scorpio, the black wyrm decided to enlist the help of Dragena and her pack for this mission. The gang still had some living hostages, including several cubs of normies. Some of the hostages were placed in iron cages outside of buildings, without water or anti-heat suits. Their end was unpleasant. Such savagery caused the youngest members of the gang to plead guilty and beg the state for help in escaping. These were just street urchins, people who had never held a proper gun in their hands before. The only reason they were even here was because Bento would have hanged them for being part of the main gang. Angoro explained that after the mission is over, they will be interrogated and, if they are as innocent as they claim, they will be sent off to orphanages in the Core Lands, as Scorpio saw no reason to keep them in prison. If they are guilty, they will serve their sentence in reeducation camps.

Dragena immediately set out on the mission, along with her pack. The newest members of the pack were still back in the base, only those who had at least one year of service were allowed to participate in the mission. The warlord was calm and relaxed as always, the wolf hags were busy quietly cracking jokes to the most nervous members of the group. For them, it was a routine job. Go in, annihilate resistance, save hostages, restore order. Confidence of their superiors spread across packs like mist, calming even the most green soldiers, like Annie.

"Act swiftly. The plan is to minimize the collateral damage but without getting overly sentimental. If some of our informants leave the warehouse, treat them as if they are part of…" Viscario responded to Kayleen.

"Belay this advice." Dragena cut him off, snapping her jaws. The warlord herself was standing, surrounded by pack members. She allowed wolf hags to inspect the weapons and armor of the pack members, while she was looking through mission details in silence, looking for any flaws. Ancient power armor was on her, steel slabs were covered by words of prayer. This was the same power armor as the one she was using nearly a century ago. A rumor was going around base that a new set of armor was being developed for all of the wolfkins, but this was just a rumor for the time being. Six blades in simple metallic sheaths were behind her back, even in almost pure darkness, the hilts of blades reflected light from crimson lenses of wolfkins. A single long rifle was strapped to the back of Dragena, a marvel of death gifted to her by Iterna after a joint operation between the state and their rival nation to rescue hostages. This weapon was a precision sniper rifle, it was capable of releasing a single shard-shaped projectile at a speed of two thousand meters per second. The rifle was black with silver ornate lettering in an unknown language. According to rumors, this lettering had been spelling the names of all dead members of the warlord's circle, ever since the creation of the Tribe.

"Our informants are marked on a map. Even at the cost of time, they are not to be killed. Keep in mind that they are but cubs. Knock them out if you need to, but keep them alive. Once you secure them, keep them separate from hostages, we want no revenge killings," Dragena started talking in a monotonous voice, fully assured that her pack will obey her. She was not wrong, none dared to miss even a single word or command from her, "According to available information, the leader of enemy forces has the power of a connector, which means he can use the power of another new breed freely. He was shown to be able to lift entire vehicles in the air, so avoid close combat with him and simply shoot him to death. Keep in mind that the original wielder of this power is also hiding somewhere out there. That is all. Finish the mission and come back alive."

"Yes, warlord!" The wolf hags pressed their right hands to their hearts while the massive steel door of the cargo bay finally started to open.

Annie took the shardgun from her back into both hands, waiting for her turn as the first wolfkins started jumping off the doors. Her eyes twitched nervously as she thought about the battle that was coming. Ever since she joined Dragena and her pack, this was her first actual mission.

I am not weak anymore. I am strong. I have allies by my side, I… She spoke in her mind, trying to calm herself. Two paws closed on her shoulders, and she nearly jumped.

"Take your finger off the trigger," Kayleen calmly said, holding Annie in place, "Take the shardgun in one paw. Breathe calmly and remember your trainings."

"Sorry." Annie quickly moved her finger away in shame. Such a childlike mistake. She closed her eyes for brief moments, gaining control over her breath, "I am good."

"I know that you are. Everything will be fine, you will be fine, we will all survive, and you will handle the mission just fine." Kayleen was speaking with kindness, so strange looking for someone like her. All she ever did was snarl at others and bite them for the slightest miscalculation. Yet now, she was calmness itself.

Kayleen gave Annie a small nudge and the scout walked toward the exit from the cargo bay. Kayleen herself and other wolf hags will jump last, in order to help any members of their pack in case of any problems descending. Scout understood now why she was not with Carty and the others. Rank, by itself, meant nothing. Experience was everything, and she still lacked it.

I will learn. I will not be a burden. Annie jumped off the edge of the cargo doors right into the darkest void of the night.

She fell down like a boulder, pressing her arms and legs closer to her body. Her armor fully closed itself around her, blocking even the claws on her hands and legs. Even the mouth was closed by a steel plate, as systems of power armor insisted that this was the best option to survive the fall. Annie was calm, pseudo intelligence of power armors was archaic, old and outdated, but still useful. Once she is on the ground, the armor will release its hold on her body, allowing her to use claws and breathe actual air. For now, she inhaled recycled air and forced a weak smile on her face. She could sense no wind or heat from outside, it was as if she was entombed in a steel coffin.

"Don’t panic, stubborn girl. We are all cheering you up from here." The voice of Carty chuckled inside the helmet as Annie fell from the clouds, seeing the lights of the enemy base on the ground. She could see the trade hub. Or what was left of it, anyway. A series of ruined buildings, surrounded by a makeshift wall made from rubble. In some parts, the wall was destroyed, clearly from a previous attack. The Wastes and Ravaged Lands were poor and underdeveloped lands. Yet people live here, struggling every day. Normies or no, these blasted raiders had no right to harm the locals.

"I am fine!" Annie wanted to sound angry and brave, yet her voice came out as mild and uncertain. Battle was upon her, and she wondered if she was ready for it.

"In that case, drinks are on you once we get back to the base." Carty responded.

"I am not falling into the same trap again!" Annie snapped back angrily this time. Last time she went with Carty and others drinking, she fell under a table, and fellow scouts drew pictures all over her snout with black marker while Annie was in drunken slumber. The most humiliating thing was that they stopped after Annie whined in her sleep from nightmares. She woke up in Carty’s room to the worrying looks of scouts, who spent the night standing guard over her. It was beyond humiliating.

Carty just laughed, and traces of fire speared the night when scouts opened fire, taking down enemy patrols on the half-ruined wall that surrounded the trade hub. The lenses in Annie’s helmet activated binoculars mode, allowing her to see how dark forms of people in green anti-heat suits were falling off the wall like bags of food. As they fell to the ground, bodies no longer tried to rise. New and new sparks speared the night, bringing death to brigands.

"Annie, I've seemingly forgotten how to descend properly. Show me the proper way." Kayleen said in a calm voice over the communicator and Annie gritted her fangs, ashamed to be the weakest link in the group.

I will become better.

She turned in the air, positioning her legs toward the ground. Her vision returned to normal, and she reached for the trigger of her jetpack with her left paw. She could also activate it via command of her armor, but Dragena insisted on the old-fashioned way in order to avoid malfunction. There was a hint of reason in this, the operation system of power armors was way outdated by modern times, so it was wise not to overload it with requests.

A flame came in from the steel tube behind Annie’s back as her descent slowed down. She could already see the ground clearly, noticing ruined tents and running people on the ground when her fall slowed to a crawl.

People looked up.

This time, Annie gave order through the systems of her suit. The jetpack fell from her back, nearly crushing one of the thuds underneath her. She crashed on the sand underneath, and the suit gave the signal that everything was fine, releasing armor on her paws, legs, and mouth. One of the enemies raised his dusty-looking rifle, but Annie was close by, kicking him in the side of the leg and striking him in the temple. From Annie’s perspective, she barely tapped the man, yet the force of her blow was enough to knock him out cold, and her kick broke his leg like a withered tree branch.

At least he was alive. The normies around her were covered with red markings when she looked at them through the vision of her suit. It meant that they were terrorists who captured this place. Easy targets, they looked as if they were moving in slow motion. Snuffing life out of them would be easy. And yet she knocked out the second foe as well.

Annie was a coward, this much she was willing to admit. A true warrior would have carried out her revenge, taking the lives of these miserable scum as an offering for souls who cried out for retribution. The normies deserved to pay, all of them were evil! However, she hesitated, afraid to take the life of another human being.

All around her, more metal tubes fell on the ground as packs K, A, and W descended. Kayleen landed with a thud underneath her, breaking his shoulders with her legs. After knocking out a man with a kick, she walked toward the den with the prisoners. The door of a second-floor nearby building suddenly opened and two people charged outside, taking aim at the wolf hag. She ignored them and two bullets hit them in the heads, coming from a nearby mountain range. The bodies of the deceased people fell from stone stairs as Kayleen moved forward. This area was for pack A to clean.

Annie charged toward the den in which hostages were kept. The loud barking of shardguns thundered around her. She forced herself to look. The sharp projectiles of the wolfkins' guns tore through the bodies of enemies, tearing limbs and turning body parts into bloody sliced meat, killed people outright. Unlike scouts' precision weapons, shardguns were butcher's weapons, designed to either kill the opponent outright or seriously wound him.

On this day, Annie understood why new breeds like the Wolf Tribe and others were used in war, not in patrol duty or police. There were many new breeds in the state, some were physically weaker than the Wolf Tribe, some, like wyrms, were far above their power. The power of the Wolf Tribe lay in physical strength and the ability to rapidly grow in strength over time. Even without armor, they towered over most of the normies. This was not a battle, this was an execution. The bandits' weapons were rendered nearly useless against the wolfkins' encasement of solid steel, even without their power armor, most of the new breeds could tear normie apart.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

If you ever have to knock out one of the normies, keep the force of your hits in mind. When two normies fight each other, even normal kicks and punches can accidentally kill them. However, differences in our bodies are such that even the lightest punch can easily kill them. It takes more skill and effort for us to take them alive, than to kill them. Annie remembered the words of Dragena, during the time when the warlord led a long training course, explaining how best to hold back in combat and how to pull your punches. As risking the lives of allies was far too great a risk, Dragena enlisted the aid of old model of droids, using them to train the newest members of her pack.

Even if the wolfkins wanted to hold back on their foes, some of their foes would still end up dead, most likely.

And to the woe of the brigands, the packs had no desire to hold back, nor were they ordered to. Soldiers of the state pierced through the scattered rubble of defenders, spearing them with knives and claws, gunning them down with shardguns, stomping on the falling foes, killing them. Only Annie and a few others took some of the enemies alive, the red dots of the downed enemies were quickly changed to purple, indicating the color of captives. Packs will leave them alone for now. Once the mission is finished, border guards will swarm the place, capturing whoever is left.

"Pack W, you are behind schedule. What’s the reason?" Annie heard a question from the warlord over a communicator.

"Hostages are strapped to the doors of the main hangar, warlord, surrounded by explosives. Some of them are still alive. They are badly burned by the sun and metal, but I am positive we can preserve their lives and disarm traps just fine. Hostiles inside are trying to start engines and escape." Reported the wolf hag in charge of pack W.

"And if you can’t disarm explosives in time? In our line of work, we all have to make sacrifices sometimes. Your lives are far too valuable for the state. Blow up the explosives," Lieutenant Angoro gave command in a stern voice, "Sacrifice a few, to preserve the greater whole. Do not allow the enemy to escape, or they will take away far more lives."

"Belay this order. The duty of soldiers is to lay down our lives, so the state can endure, and citizens are part of the state. Pack W, rescue the hostages. Then deliver retribution along with aid from Pack C. Carty, if any vehicle moves from the hangar, stop them."

"But of course, warlord. Nasty boys and girls will stay and play till the end." Carty almost purred in response, and the night was speared by another bright shot fired by one of the scouts. One of the raiders on the half-destroyed building's roof collapsed after discovering a fist-sized hole in his chest.

Kayleen walked forward, leading her pack in a steady pace toward the dens of prisoners, surrounded by a cacophony of screams and shots from all sides. As the wolf hag passed the nearby building, one of the brigands showed up from the window, taking aim at her, while another jumped out of the door with a shotgun in his hand. Kayleen moved briefly, her jaws closing on a man in a window, snapping half of his head. Her leg kicked the man in the doors in his chest, the claws tore through his bones and reached all the way to his heart. The wolf hag's shardgun fired once, killing an enemy far ahead before the woman could react to the advancing wolfkins.

This is a battle. The thought shocked Annie far more than it should have. Her opponents were ordinary people, blasted, disgusting creatures undeserving of sympathy. However, seeing how three lives were ended in the span of two heartbeats, as Kayleen spat the bones, flesh, and brain of the deceased man on the ground, as the bandits were dying all around her, she shuddered. No life should end like this… It just felt wrong. Who was she to decide who deserved to live or not? Maybe some of bandits here were good people, just misguided? As the blood of dead people was splattered across the sand of the former trading hub, as blood was slowly drying up from the intense heat of the night, the eyes of Annie widened even more. She'd seen death before. On this day, she was supposed to deliver it. To take life. And she found herself lacking the drive to… to…

"Scout. Keep up the pace, dens on the left are yours." The voice of Kayleen snapped Annie from her trance, making her shake her head. Mission! She had a mission! She must abandon her fears, she just has to complete her mission. Like in training!

The scout charged forward, ignoring the feeble bullets of the foes as she rammed through three defenders that stood before the iron cage. She pushed forward to the cage, kicking and punching with just enough force to knock out three men armed with machine guns. It was placed in the open, allowing the sun of the day to fall upon people inside. Even at night was harsh enough for most people, and Annie’s nose felt pus and sensed the smell of a burning meat as she saw the people inside. They pressed their bodies against each other, men and a few women stood in the outer circle, trying to protect weaker people behind them from the harsh climate of the Wastes. People in the outer circle were half dead, their skin covered with sun burns of such intensity that few of them had their eye lids burned away, their eyes forever went dark. Annie swallowed as she saw a cub, who was pressed deep to the woman’s chest. Skin was peeling off of his hand, drops of blood were falling on the ground.

"Annie! Behind!" Kayleen shouted, and the scout turned away, still in deep shock. The normies suffered too. She hated them with every fiber of her being, and yet… Right now and here, she would have given her life just to ensure that these people would never have had to suffer such a fate in the first place.

Behind her was one of the bandits, one of the people whom Annie supposedly knocked out. The hood of his suit fell off his head, showing the messed up and dirty blonde hair of a man in his early thirties. His eyes were filled with sheer terror as he lifted the machine gun, aiming the weapon at the scout. Annie frowned for a moment. He was not a threat to her, her armor would protect her from anything he could…

Hostages! Panic hit her like a whip. Without thinking, she obeyed her training, taking aim with her shardgun and firing her weapon. If but a single bullet from his weapon flies past her, into hostages, then…

The eyes of the man before her became round, his whites turned red as blood vessels popped in his eyes. His chest turned into a bloody rag filled with holes, his body was sent back a few steps, sliding across sand and leaving a bloody trail behind. Annie looked at the dead body with a strange, numb feeling. A mix of horror and acceptance was overflowing her. She killed a person. She killed a person. I am a murderer. A monster.

A gunshot snapped her from her fear, as the body of another brigand fell on the ground, the chest of a dead man turned into a horrible parody of a bloody red rag.

"Scout? Is everything fine?" One of the males who followed after her asked, lowering his weapon. Annie felt shame, because of her incompetence hostages were in danger once again. She should have noticed the bandit on her own.

"I am fine. Just…"

"I understand. We were all there. We will cover you, don’t worry, ma’am." The soldier nodded, lowering on one knee and firing once more into someone.

Still burning with shame, the scout turned around, reaching the steel doors of the prison cage and tearing them away with the same ease as a cub who lifts a ball made from straws. Some people inside weakly screamed, while others looked at her with numb acceptance. Wolfkins were not used in police operations. They were the state's hammer, not to be seen with locals in lands on a regular basis. Fear and anxiety at the sight of the Wolf Tribe was expected.

Annie tore the med kit from her belt, throwing it to one of the healthy males among the hostages.

"Stay safe. Help is coming." She turned around, exiting the cage. Males from pack K have already started creating a perimeter around the dens of prisoners, wiping out any resistance. Once resistance had been suppressed, warriors and above were supposed to move on, while males would guard hostages and try to preserve their lives.

Deliver retribution. Annie latched onto these words in her mind, as if a person drowning in sand latches onto the closest tree branch near him, praying that it is tough enough to support the weight. She kept repeating these words in her head as she opened fire, no longer caring about trying to take the foes alone. She shot raiders, slashed them with her claws, stomped them with her legs, feeling how their bellies ended up being torn under the force of her impact.

"On your knees, scum! You are way in over your head!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs to six raiders who rushed out of one building. Whatever they saw in her lenses, whatever they saw in her form covered with the blood of the deceased and dying, made them throw their weapons and prostrate before her. Annie wasted but four heartbeats tying their hands behind their back with ropes made from the suits of dead people around her. The speed of her movements surprised even her, during trainings Annie often made some mistakes. Not here, not anymore. The world became black and white for Annie. Those who lay down their weapons will live. Those who surrender will live. Hostages will live. All the others will die. As simple as that. The simple task was good, it kept her from being distracted from suffering and death around…

Don’t think. Just carry on your duty. Her shardgun fired once more, downing the enemy on the second floor, some ninety steps away from her. Shardguns were not meant to be used at long range, and the vast majority of her sharp projectiles merely tore stone walls around the woman. Some, however, pierced her in the chest and belly. Systems of armor assigned a purple color to her, as intelligence of armor surmised that the enemy was still alive. Annie placed a call sign on this enemy, marking her as a high priority due to her wounds. Males will decide whether they have time to save this enemy combatant or not.

"That’s the spirit!" Kayleen shouted, firing her shardgun, impressed by Annie’s words. Surrounded by wolfkins howled in agreement, the bone-chilling sound of new breeds itching to enact retribution upon those who dared to hurt the state. They howled, and Annie joined them, killing and slashing, as she was freaking out inside. She freaked out as she opened the man before her from groin to chisel with a single slash of a claw. She cried in fear as her shards from her weapon sliced away the head of the raider before her, the woman was too scared to drop her weapon, fear drove her to try and attack Annie with a feeble steel pipe. Noise behind her made her turn, but the raider behind her was already gunned down by one of the males from her pack. Seeing allies surrounding her made Annie felt herself a bit better. She was not alone, others had her back. And she will have theirs.

Black and white. A world devoid of all colors, save for two. Flame, red on the ground, sounds of dead and dying, sounds of battle, all that was but a part of black and white. There was no difference here, no complexity. Kill. Spare those who surrender. Do not think, don’t dare to think about the people whom you killed. Follow the simple orders. Turn the horror inside of you into a raging flame that devours all who stay in your path…

"Move and I kill him!" The perfect world cracked, and Annie snapped back into reality, longing for the perfect clarity that she had just a second ago. A beautiful, clear answer to everything in the world with no fear, no questions no…

She shook her head, forcing herself to remain in the present moment. Something snapped her out of it. What was it?

The wolfkins before her surrounded one of the raiders, a woman in an anti-heat suit of crimson color, with several metal plates hanging from it, forming makeshift armor. She was pressing a pistol to the head of a small cub of normies, her finger trembling at the trigger. The systems of armor showed Annie that Kayleen was already lifting her weapon. Without thinking any further, Annie fell on the knees before the confused raider, taking off her helmet.

"What will you gain by killing the cub? His life is worth nothing, he is no shield worth using. Look at him covered with sunburns, about to die. Is this any worthy hostage?" Annie demanded to know, putting aside her weapon and lifting her paws, "I offer you myself as a gift. Take me, I am a far bigger shield than this cub. If I try to run, you can shoot me, doing far more damage to the forces of the state. I swear on my life that if you let the cub live, I'll give you a free shot at me."

"I think that I will take you both. Just to be safe, you understand" The brigand smiled, forcing the cub into the paws of Annie, just as the barrel of the gun was pressed to the temple of the wolfkin. The cub was barely breathing, each time he inhaled, it looked as if his lungs were torn. The left side of the cub’s face was burned away by the cruel sun, revealing gleaming meat beneath. Part of his black hair turned white from the intense heat. Annie carefully pressed the cub to her chest, closing her snout over him, "Move or I will…"

Annie chuckled in response, and the wolfkins around her laughed. None of them moved when the gun fired, and Annie felt the pain, as her fur and skin were torn by the bullet. She smiled fiercely, feeling how the bullet was unable to pierce her skull and ricocheted away from bone. In the next moment, the scout moved, kicking the gun from the hand of the raider with her shoulder. The woman saw something in Annie’s eyes and fell on her knees, screaming.

"I surrender! I surrender, please don’t kill me!"

"I don’t want to kill you." Annie smiled in the face of the brigand. It was true, among all packs. The orders of the Dynast and warlords were extremely strict. If an opponent surrendered, they would be taken alive, regardless of the crime. Disobedience to this order was punished by death, torture of prisoners by soldiers also shares the same sentence. As Dragena explained to members of her pack, Annie included, the primary reason for this was not even to exchange prisoners between two warring states, although it was an important part of the rules as well. Soldiers will always fight harder, knowing that the state has their back. The real reason for this law, however, was to prevent the decomposition of personnel and the deterioration of discipline. A soldier in the army is but a cog of the system, who must do her job in her place, very often contrary to the instinct to save her life. If a soldier takes the role of judge into her hands, this gives her an inflated sense of worth, eventually leading the soldier astray, which will inevitably lead to insubordination, "Authorities will deal with you. They will either hang you, rehabilitate you, or lock you up for life. Either way, you are done."

She stood up, allowing the wolfkins to tie up the raider. A worried woman was behind the wolf hag, the normie fell on the ground as she saw the cub in the arms of Annie. Crying and sobbing, the woman begged Annie to give her the cub, and, after Kayleen gave an approving nod, Annie obeyed, gently giving up the small life away and allowing the medic to treat the wounds of the hostages. Hopefully, they will manage to preserve this life. While the males in Dragena's pack served in the role of medics, their skills were subpar when compared to true medical personnel. After all, the wolfkins rarely needed extensive medical care in the field, their strong bodies either toughed it out until the hospital or the victim died.

"You two, lead the hostages back to prisoner dens and guard them when you finish tending to their wounds!" The wolf hag snapped at two males. Kayleen looked at Annie, and both of them turned to the north, hearing the sound of tearing metal.

"Run. We all must run. Before he comes back." The normie woman, with the cub in her hands, whispered in fear, her body shaking.

"Miss." Annie lowered herself on both knees before her, lifting the head of the woman. An ugly lacerated wound ran across the face of the woman, utterly devouring one of her eyes. Annie forced herself to smile, making sure to hide her fangs behind her lips, "Look at me. I am real. My name is Annie. I am a new breed of the Reclaimers. My kin and I are sorry that you had to suffer, but we swear to you that all the scary things are behind. Retribution cometh, and all your wounds will heal in time. Our presence here is real, your salvation is real. Please relax and stop feeling fear, if you can. We won’t let anyone harm you." Annie frowned as one of the wolfkins sneaked up on her from behind, placing a sticky medical patch on the wound on her head. Yet she still smiled softly at the woman, despite this embarrassment.

"You have no idea who is up against you. I saw him. He is also a new breed. And he has the power to make things move with his mind. When one of the guards went against him, he skinned the man alive. Each time when anyone refused to do what he wanted, he… he…" The voice of the woman started to tremble once more from barely held back horror.

"And you have no idea who came with us. Annie, put on your helmet and do not waste any more time trying to calm down hostages. Neither of us are any good at this. Males! Update! Remove the civilians from the danger zone and start treating their wounds already!" The wolf hag roared to the males, and they hastily took the woman into their hands, carrying her to the dens of prisoners, "Now listen up, everyone! Pack A seems to be in a bit of trouble. Form up, we have a bastard to skin and kin to help! Can we ask for a better task?" Kayleen said, lifting her snout to the air and unleashing a howl filled with primordial rage.

"No!" The pack roared back, and Annie caught herself screaming the same.

"Do you have visuals of a prime target?" From Dragena came a cold question. The warlord was listening to all conversations through devices installed in each armor.

"Negative. We can’t confirm his presence yet, warlord. Rumors about him could be a fluke," Kayleen quickly went from a beast filled with rage to a calm person as the voice of the warlord spoke in the helmets of Pack K, "Please stay aboard just a bit longer, oh warlord, he could be anywhere."

"Move out to help Pack A." Dragena gave her command.