"Prepare everyone. It has to be now. We walked too far without meeting them." Aranea said calmly, cooling the heads of Kate and Yuki. Both of them were tense, their instincts screaming to charge after the enemies, to rend them apart, to feast and devour. The smell of blood, even if this was merely the ichor of an insectoid, was annoyingly hard to ignore. It aroused the combat instincts within the female wolfkins. The males held their positions much better, Kostya was calm, even relaxed. This was just one of many hundreds of operations he was involved in. There was nothing new for him to see here. Kaleb was trying his best not to screw up, yet Aranea saw that it took him a second too long to reload his weapon. He was better than a few months ago, when he accidentally forgot to reload in time and, as a result, Kate forced him through the shooting range again and again, drilling the routine into his head. But even now, he still had some problems, and he nervously glanced at Kate from time to time. Aranea will speak with Kate one day. Whatever her beef with Kaleb was, it affected his performance. Sly was, as usual, more concerned with counting the dead for the tally than worrying about his life. Aranea sent a message to Kaleb, ordering him to watch over Sly.
A large stone was hung on the left side of the ceiling. A shadow moved from behind it, a long spear-like limb shot forward, almost reaching Sly. Kostya raised his weapon a second too late, and the enemy was already nearing his fellow wolfkins. Kaleb shouted in warning, grabbing Sly by the collar of his armor and pushing him back. A long, needle-like limb sliced across Kaleb's fingers, slicing through the armor and injuring his paw. Another limb struck where Sly's neck was just a moment ago.
"Sack of shit!" Kate pushed her weapon past the head of Kalen and opened fire, aiming at the creature as it darted behind the stone.
"Above!" Aranea shouted, pointing her weapon and firing up. Her shot tore into the belly of the insectoid warrior who intended to fall on them from above. Insectoid warriors were far more dangerous than their brethren. Like the other critters, they moved around on six limbs. It stood tall, reaching almost a meter and a half in height, looking like some weird parody of a human, if a human had six legs and an incredibly thin torso. Its head had small, almost elegant mandibles, and two huge black compound eyes were at the sides of the small head. Two long, spear-like bladed limbs served as arms and were fully capable of moving with blinding speed. And the warriors were smart. These two hid among their kin's carnage, using some unnatural ability to even block the smell of their chitin bodies. And once the pack was in their range, the insectoid warriors attacked.
The first insectoid warrior fell dead on the floor, and Aranea felt the rush of blood in her veins. She grunted and forced the blasted power to go away, taking her "reward" along with it. She had no need for it. A second insectoid warrior reappeared from behind the hanging stone, jumping on the ground, ducking low, and charging into the group. He came too close to Kate, and the scout lifted her weapon. Suddenly, the stone under her leg crushed, and the scout fell on one knee, cursing as her blade arm flew above her shoulder, missing the armor and body of the scout. The insectoid tried to back down, only to be gunned down by Yuki. Unlike Kate, she didn't miss, the shardgun’s rounds hit directly in the middle of the thin torso, tearing the creature in two. Yet even in the air, its limbs twitched, trying to make one last thrust. Kate grabbed the warrior by his blade-like arm and slammed his upper body into the floor, stomping on it with her leg. The scout growled as the reward flowed into her, bringing her just a little closer to the peak.
"Stupid, blasted sack of shit! We will lose points because of you!" Kate screamed, almost in desperation.
"I am sorry…" Kaleb started, but the scout threw an enraged gaze in his direction.
"And you shut up! Sly, take care of his wound," Kate commanded, turning to Aranea and baring her neck for showing unwanted initiative. The collar of her power armor slid into her chest armor, revealing her neck for Aranea to bite. Aranea simply pushed her fellow scout ahead, not wanting to spend time dominating her. She was used to working with what she had, and Kate at least tried to work as a part of the team today and deserved some encouragement for this.
"You should respect our traditions more." Kate quietly said, and Aranea slammed her across the shoulder with a paw.
"There. This should count as punishment," Aranea simply stated. Warlord Janine, was a fierce follower of the traditions, encouraging her troops to do the same. Yet, as Janine once explained to Sonya, traditions never state what sort of punishment there must be, only that it must be physical. This allowed Aranea to wiggle away from punishing the soldiers. And Aranea prided herself on the fact that she had never bullied her troops with physical force. She felt proud that her pack was just as good as the packs of the other scouts, despite her lack of domination. "I will scold Kaleb later," She could sense how Kate’s body became tense under the armor, "No. You are not to punish him, you got it?"
"As if this stupid weakling could endure punishment." The scout mumbled words in acceptance of this command.
The pack charged toward the main cave and saw the picture of carnage inside. In the middle of the cave, Olesya and two other female wolfkins stood on top of a literal pile made of the bodies of the insectoid workers. The living river made of countless bodies tried to swarm them, yet the wolfkins made no mistake for their enemies to capitalize on.
Broken bodies covered with ichor cracked under the wolfkin’s legs while the soldiers kept fighting, dodging just in time as some of the workers charged with their sudden burst speed at the wolfkins. Just as the shardgun of Olesya unleashed its last round, a form of the insectoid warrior rose up, hiding among the attackers. The warrior was almost on Olesya and her soldiers, his blade-like arms made a thrust, aiming for the neck of Olesya. Aranea took aim, fully knowing that it was too late to stop the insectoid warrior. Damned fool! This insect used the desire for fame of her fellow wolfkin and even counted the number of shots. The insectoid warrior timed its advance as perfectly as it possibly could. Now that the wolfkins are without ammo, they will be easier prey…
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The insectoid warrior twitched its head as a hole appeared in the side of its head. Olesya turned around, perfectly timing her attack while her enemy was disrupted by shock. The blade arms missed their marks, and the jaws of the scout closed on the head of the insectoid warrior, biting it off cleanly. Aranea could see how Olesya smiled, crushing the head of the foe and hungrily gulping the remains in her mouth. This was the first time Olesya killed an actual insectoid warrior, and Aranea could see how the body of the scout slightly trembled, as power sent her the reward, increasing muscles ever so slightly. It was a tiny increase, but it will stack with each new type of foe that Olesya defeats in the future.
Foolish girl. Aranea thought sourly. You can’t trust this power. She remembered fully what had happened to her mother. Each time her power tried to "reward" her, she refused the gift. She will reach the top with her own might and skills, not thanks to the cursed blood and the powers of her ancestry.
"There!" Kostya pointed at the three male wolfkins who were standing near the second entrance to the cave. They carried unusually long rifles in their hands, and bursts of automatic fire erupted from their barrels. Seemingly uncaring for the safety of their own comrades, they showered with bullets both the wolfkins and the insectoids in the middle of the cave. And yet bullets harmlessly bounced off the wolfkins’ power armor while leaving small wounds on their enemies.
"Blastguns!" Aranea laughed, taking aim and killing a swarm of insectoids near Olesya, "Oh, you crafty girl!" Aranea’s pack joined her, carefully shooting at the enemies who were the furthest from the wolfkins in the center of the cave. Blastguns were low-powered rifles not meant to be used against foes in power armors. Mostly, they were wielded by patrol troops.
"Olesya gathered enemies around herself and used the males to soften up the foe before the kill. She trusts men a little too much," Yuki observed as she fired her weapon, "It should have been the other way around. What if they screw up? Her plan was reckless and endangered the lives of the valuable troops."
"Hey, as long as it works." Sly smiled. Yuki growled but made no attempt to discipline him.
With both teams firing into the gathering of the insectoids, their ranks began to thin. Despite their large numbers, they were not endless. Here and there, forms of the insectoid warriors appeared, only to be cut down by the gunfire. Slowly, step by step, the cave became devoid of life. Olesya put her shardgun behind her back, unleashing her claws, and jumped into the swarm of enemies. The adrenaline from the reward was driving her into a battle frenzy, she slashed and stomped insectoids, cheerfully laughing in ecstasy. Her pack kept her back protected from ranged fire. The battle stopped for a moment as a large wall at the far end of the tunnel started to crack. Tremors ran across the ground as something huge began to move.
"Now." Aranea said, seeing the hive queen break out of her hiding place. The long, fat body was gleaming with its white chitin plates. The massive body was carried forward by countless legs from a hidden spot in the cave, large black eyes locked on the wolfkins in the middle of the cave. Two large scythe-like arms, each bigger than an ATV class vehicle, rose up, damaging the ceiling and preparing to slam into Olesya. The soldiers of Olesya pack open fire, yet even the shardguns barely caused scratches on the plates of the queen, while blastguns were utterly useless all together.
If she gets injured, this win is mine. Aranea thought. Her paw stopped halfway to the grenade launcher on her back. Surely Olesya herself was at fault for this situation, right? She was a liability, someone like her will never change the Wolf Tribe. If Kaleb was injured, chances are that if Aranea stepped in, her pack would lose. And losing meant no promotion, no chance to one day change the tribe. "And I have great many things I want to change…" whispered the familiar voice inside of Aranea’s head.
"Open fire! Push the beast back!" Aranea shouted, grabbing the grenade launcher. I will change everything in my own way. I will not become him. She reminded herself, taking aim at the queen. Six shots hit the head and chest of the queen, pushing her massive body back. For a brief moment, explosions and smoke obscured the enemy's body before the queen pushed forward from the smoke, insane from pain and agony. Her eyes were gone, her mandibles around her mouth were cracked, and the chitin armor on her head and chest was in ruins. Yet her blade arms still worked, and the queen slammed the first blade into the ground, almost slicing Olesya in two. The blade went deep into the ground, and the queen pulled it back, ruining the floor and causing the wolfkins in the center of the cave to fall. Ceilings began to crack, and stones started to fall, as the massive body of the foe thrashed around in pain, blindly lunging at everything around her.
"Again." Aranea calmly took aim, firing the second shot into the wounds on the enemy body. Shots rang out within the massive body, and the queen rose, her upper body gone, her massive blade arms falling to the ground, but her lower body thrashed in pain. The ceiling finally gave in, and the torrent of stones started to fall on the floor.
"We better run." Kaleb stated the obvious, as the pack turned around. Kate grabbed Kaleb by the collar of his armor, almost dragging him after herself, before finally putting him in front of herself.
"Stop blabbering with your mouth and just run, you idiot!" The scout snarled, kicking him in the butt to encourage him to run faster, "Use all four of your limbs, you dumbasses!" Kate howled in rage, as Kaleb and Sly continued to run on both legs. As he was lowering himself on all four limbs, Kaleb accidentally lost his weapon, and Yuki grabbed the grenade launcher with her jaws, as she ran toward the exit on all fours.
Through the cameras on her body, Aranea could see how Olesya and her team were running away, charging away on all fours as well. A hail of stones almost reached the pack of Aranea as they charged toward the exit and jumped outside. Aranea was the one who left the cave last, as befitted the leader. She was in charge of this operation, and it was up to her to prove that she could ensure the survival of her pack.