"Long time no see, Annie! You sure grew up a lot, with muscles like these, I might even feel your stings now," Virginia joked as she thrust the torn stinger in her arm in the direction of Annie, "Got it? Stings? Ah, I am sure you got it, lemme just help you real quick, then we can have a reunion proper." Virginia turned away to look at the line breaker with narrowed eyes.
I don’t want to be saved by you. Not you, of all people. I don’t want you to see me as a failure again. Annie wanted to say, while members of the Alpha team were landing on the ground all around camp like drops of rain. Trained by Alpha herself, these soldiers were used to rapid deployment from planes, jetpacks or no jetpacks. After inhuman training, their muscles could take the strain of the fall just fine. There was a reason why the Alpha team, the core of the Alpha pack, were the second strongest pack among the Wolf Tribe. Annie felt a tingle of shame running across her body. She was given the trust of Dragena, trust of Kayleen and found a way to let them both down.
"Pack A! Retreat to new coordinates and tend to your wounds, while supporting the advance of our allies with fire from the range." Annie forced herself to ignore selfish shame and give command, sending new mapped routes to her pack. Annie was the only one at fault for this debacle, and she will give her all for the sake of her troops, failure or no failure. The soldiers under her command deserved no scorn, they deserved that she had given her very best for their sake. Even if this means admitting defeat yet again.
The line breaker actually roared as it saw the stinger in the paws of Virginia. The wolfkin smirked arrogantly, lifted the stinger to her jaws and bit the sharp end, crushing it between her teeth and swallowing the remains. The pincers of the line breaker furiously opened the ground trembling underneath the massive chassis that were charging at Virginia. The line breaker drew his right pincer back, preparing to swing and slice in both Annie and Virginia at the same time.
"Keep your eyes on the bad boy, cause I am gonna to show you something awesome." Virginia let out a chuckle, reaching for a long metal pole at her back. Taking the pole in both claws and wielding it like a club, the wolf hag charged at the massive being, screaming in a very undignified voice that sounded more like an excited girl than a trained soldier's.
The two opponents crashed into each other with the sound of an exploding bomb, the impact of the metal pole crashing against the pincer sent a wave of air into all directions. Tents, dead and knocked-out people, even the remains of the line breaker, were all moved at least a few steps because of the fierce wind. For the briefest of moments, Annie failed to see the movements of Virginia, as dust and wind hid her. Through the lens of the wolf hag’s helmet, Annie saw only a blindingly fast swing of the metal pole. The huge mechanic pincer, almost twice the size of the wolf hag, was met with the simple-looking metal pole. The outcome should have been easy, the pole should have been sliced or bent and Virginia should have died.
As dust and wind settled, Virginia was unharmed, standing two steps behind the line breaker. Annie blinked from surprise, thinking that the wolf hag had simply run past her opponent. And then she saw. One of the piston-driven legs of the line breaker was cut in two, the right side of the massive pincer hand lay on the ground, while the remaining half was emitting sparks from the slashed wires and cables. A humming sound could be heard from the pole in Virginia’s paws, light formed at the very top of the pole, extending slightly downward across metal, forming a deadly looking twin-bladed energy axe of purple color.
"And with my next trick, I will make that asshole disappear!" Virginia turned around in a whirlwind of air, swinging the blade of her axe at the foe.
But the strike that should have cut the bulk of the foe never connected with the target. It slashed away the damaged pincer arm while the line breaker itself jumped away, flying over Annie and landing behind her with the sound of a falling building. Sheer shock from the tremor made Annie stand up.
No. Realization came along with the thunderous steps of four legs, piston-driven force sent massive chassis and bulk toward hostages, trying to reach them in one desperate attempt. The line breaker could not hope to kill foes at this point, his allies were dead, and Kayleen was currently busy taking apart the line breaker that attacked Pack K. Alpha team members were landing, and Pack A was retreating to the edges of the camp. Hostages were left wide open for one last maddening charge of the beast. And the cadaver took this chance.
Driven by its master's will, the cadaver pushed aside two members of the Alpha team, casting a shadow on the terrified hostages. Turrets wheezed before the creature realized it didn't have them anymore. Swinging its remaining pincer, the creature prepared to smash people inside the cage. One man pushed a cub out of the cage, but the rest were too slow to leave.
This was when Lucendra stepped in, firing her shardgun into the side of the cadaver. Annie could hear her heavy breath on the communication, she released round after round into the bulk of the foe. Uncaring of danger, or simply too caught up in the moment. The cadaver chose her as his final prey, its torso made an almost one hundred and eighty-degree turn and snatched Lucendra into the air with its pincer arm.
I refuse to let another one die. Annie stood up, despite her wounds, pushing her body into a run toward the creature. Her wounded arm dangled for a moment, before she clenched the fist of her left hand, pushing, toughing through the pain. All her life, her mother, her father, Sveta, always being too late, too weak, too soft… I refuse to make the same mistake again.
The scout could barely find the strength to growl, forcing her legs to carry her at a speed that surprised even her. She jumped in the air, spreading her claws and slashing the fleshy torso of the line breaker. The ruined head of the creature looked at the scout, still holding the wolfkin in its pincer arm.
"No! Please, I beg of you, I can’t die!" Lucendra wailed in a thin and broken voice as the horror of realization caught up with her, the adrenaline in her blood retreated, "Please, I surrender, I…"
The pincer closed, slicing the armor of Lucendra around her torso, closing on her flesh before the unbelieving eyes of Annie. The ground shook, sudden tremors that ran across the camp nearly dropped Annie off her feet, such was the shock that she felt upon understanding that her commands, her leadership, led to the death of another soldier…
The pincer closed upon the flesh of Lucendra, and something akin to a surprise appeared on the ruined face of the cadaver. It turned its head away from Annie and towards Lucendra. The pincer opened wide, still holding the wolfkin in its grip, Annie could see the damaged parts of the power armor. Her own systems showed wild damage to the armor of the scout, recommending her to move the soldier out of the danger zone. The pincer closed again and the warrior screamed wordlessly in panic. The razor-sharp edges of a pincer hand that could sever tank armor and render power armor nearly useless... hesitated? Annie could not understand what was going on. The edges of the pincer stopped an inch from the fur of Lucendra according to the data of the power armor.
"Annie, catch!" Scout whirled in place, looking through the lenses of the Virginia. The wolf hag was charging toward her, sending her weapon cartwheeling through the air toward the scout.
Idiot, is she planning to murder me or... Annie cut off all thoughts and fears. Her left arm hurt like hell, the wound under her left breast was spreading hot fire across her body, her knees were soaked with blood from the chest wound. All she could see for the moment was the weapon of Virginia, spinning in the air and closing in on Annie.
Surrender your will.
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Take it if you can. The scout was unsure just to whom she was answering right now. The voice that spoke in her head sounded strained and raspy, the voice of a person who struggles for each breath. The scout jumped, catching the shaft of the metal pole and keeping the energy axe away from her body with ease. Annie turned her body in the air, allowing the energy axe to bit the pincer right at the joint where the blades connected to the arm. With a barely audible hissing sound, energy melted through steel, requiring only a push to slice off the entire arm. However, this push was one of the most difficult things Annie had ever done, as her entire left arm exploded in pain, briefly turning the world black.
She barely remembered what happened next. Her body aflame, Annie threw the energy axe behind herself, to the location of Virginia, while she herself caught pincer with screaming Lucendra, pushing the warrior away from the pincer’s sharp edges. Kayleen appeared near them, dragging both wolfkins away, while Virginia caught the energy axe and cleaved the line breaker in two.
"Stupid, reckless, moronic idiot! Can you breathe?" Kayleen asked half-unconscious Annie, raising her many-limbed paw in the air as the world spun around her, "How many fingers do you see?"
"All forty of them," Annie gulped, her gaze fixed on the wolf hag's spinning snout and paws. Kayleen pulled the helmet off of Annie's head while the scout felt how something hot explode all around her body, "Wait, why do you have forty fingers all of a sudden?"
"Yeah, fighting is over for you for tonight. Don’t do anything stupid. Just lie on the ground and relax. What’s the ETA on the medic team?! Alpha team, what are you standing around for, get the survived raiders tied up and gathered right now!" The wolf hag screamed commands, standing up and leaving the field of view of Annie. Annie raised her head and saw how Virginia tried to clap hands with the wolfkins of both packs. Surprisingly, the Alpha team looked at Virginia as if she was a weird freak, trying to avoid exchanging handshakes or claps with her, saluting to their wolf hag instead. After the scream of Kayleen, the wolf hags of the Alpha team snapped commands, joining Pack A in counting the dead and collecting surviving raiders. Carty and Ultis jumped off the cliffs above camp, helping gather the hostages. Lucendra was sitting close to Annie, trembling slightly and wrapping her arms around her knees. The scout lay back on the ground and looked at the night sky. The spinning was slowly stopping and Annie found clouds in the sky looking nice.
"Annie! That was awesome, you saw me cleaving him in two? Annie? Are you okay?" Virginia’s snout covered the beautiful clouds in the skies.
"I feel like my left arm is about to explode," Annie complained to the wolf hag, "Also angry, bitter, beaten up. You know, the usual. How were you doing all this time?"
The ground shook slightly, and stones fell from the cliffs.
"Hans, tell the medic to slow their advance," Annie reached for the nearby helmet and signaled, "Something strange is going on here. Wolf hag, we need to find out what is happening. What if there are more enemies…"
"Alpha team! Carty! You heard the scout, find out the source of the tremors! Ultis, take your pack and leg it away from here with the hostages. You!" Kayleen shouted to a man in a green uniform, with a purple cross painted on his shoulder. Annie recognized him as one of the members of the medic team, "What are you doing here all alone? No matter, we have wounded, begin treating them imme…"
"I am sorry, I have no idea how to treat wounds." The man responded to the angry looking wolf hag and walked past her.
Kayleen took off her helmet, fur bristled with anger and something akin to pure hatred was burning in her amber eyes. She took two deep breaths to calm herself. Lieutenant Angoro stood before the walking medic, blocking his advance. Two more soldiers from the border patrol flanked him.
"Show me your ID, sir." demanded the agent, holding a gun in his hand.
The medic opened his mouth to speak, but his words were drowned out by the sand and stone explosion. The cliff on the north of the camp fell when a massive tower pierced it from inside, the movements of an impossibly huge body scarring the ground around it with cracks wide enough to consume a person whole. A burning fire in camp threw light upon the foundation of the tower, and Annie saw that this was a living creature. Massive chitin plates covered the mighty torso, a torso that was big enough to cast a shadow on the entire camp. Countless blade-like legs protruded from the body's sides, each as large as a building and sharp enough to sever stone. The legs twitched while the massive body twisted, lowering its head on top of the body to the ground. Flames finally lit the invader, and Annie felt fear running across her body.
A sand reaper, predator of the Ravaged Lands, was one of the few creatures who dared to butt heads with skinwalkers over feeding grounds and actually win. The eyes looked like pools of darkest void, great mandibles that could bite through the armor of a crawler, open wide and closing in anticipation. Pus was seeping from chitin plates on the body, yet it could hardly slow down the great beast. Dragena showed videos of the invasion of sand reapers. One such specimen, a small one, just sixty meters in length, once depopulated an entire city over one hundred and twenty years ago. The defenders used heavy missiles, gunfire, and even a few energy weapons. But the reaper was unstoppable, his massive body swinging like a whip, crushing buildings and people inside. Few survivors tried to hide inside emergency bunkers below the city, but the creature found survivors inside, breaking through walls that were meant to withstand bunker bombs. Out of twenty thousand and sixty-two people who lived in the city, not a single person managed to escape from the city, the sand reaper left just smoldering ruins upon its departure. The reason for the attack of the sand reaper was simple. That city produced sugar in large quantities, and it attracted the enormous insect.
Mandibles spread wide, with simple movement releasing a gush of wind toward people in camp equal to that of a small sandstorm. This specimen was of medium size, Annie decided that this monster should be at least eighty meters in length.
What in the world could it want to find here? Sand reapers live in the Ravaged Lands, why is it so close to this area? Spirits, we barely register as parasites to it, why in the world does it intend to hunt us? Words ran through the panicked mind of Annie as she tried to find anything, thought of anything, anything at all that could help them survive and escape. Alpha team or no, they lacked the firepower to make a sufficient dent in the massive body. The sand reaper only retreats if it’s hurt too much, and hunting no longer looks profitable for it. And neither pack had anything that could scare the beast away.
"So much for r…re..reunion proper," Virginia stuttered, speaking in a growling voice and standing before Annie, swinging the energy axe around her body, creating arcs of energy around herself, "Oh well. Like a hero in the middle of nowhere. Bye Annie, sorry if something was off."
The body moved forward, becoming blurred to the tired eyes of Annie. The creature tore the rest of a cliff, sending itself like a projectile against the people in the camp. The eyes, each so big that Annie could have easily drowned in them, were closing on her, the creature emitted a screeching roar. Mandibles slowly begin to close, ready to swallow up a large group of people at once.
The creature slammed into the air before camp and stopped dead. There was no sound from impact, the only thunderous sound came when the lower end of the creature tore from underground and the body backed away, coiling around itself in confusion. One mandible bore a great dent, the chitin that could endure even heavy weaponry was cracked, and blood, along with pus, was seeping from the wound. A single drop was large enough to cover Annie, and blood was streaming increasingly faster from the crack. The sand reaper gave another screeching scream, hitting the eardrums of Annie with the force of a sledgehammer. The being of might hit the air before camp with countless legs. Instead of shredding camp, legs were stopped midflight, encountering a shimmering wall.
The medic stepped forward, the pale features of his face flowing, revealing an utter darkness. A cowl appeared around his head, rapidly forming a cloak of utter darkness that flowed from the shoulders of a man. The pink skin of the head turned to chitin, and the clothes darkened until the cloak covered them. The leg of a man bent backward, lifting him higher and higher, allowing him to tower above Kayleen. The cloak reached the ground, hiding the man entirely, aside from his outstretched arm. Outsider, one of the greatest leaders of the Reclaimers was standing here, among the troops. He made a lifting gesture with his arm.
Light coalesces around the body of the sand reaper, wrapping itself around chitin plates, tearing the reaper from the ground and lifting the writhing body into the air. With a cacophonous sound, the ground was torn asunder as a force unseen dragged every last bit of a massive body into the air, freezing the writhing of a body above camp. Stones, larger than trucks, fell above camp, and shimmering lights in the air stopped them, deflecting them to the side. The legs of the sand reaper jerked frantically, trying to break free from the cruel hold. Light moved onto them as well, spreading like water, covering every inch of the body. The creature tried to screech again, and no sound came out this time. The sand reaper was caught in a prison of shimmering light.
"Begone." Outsider said and clenched his hand into a fist.
The last thing Annie saw before losing her conscience was how the massive body in the air above her collapsed into a single dot, no bigger than her hand or foot.