"The weapon crates are secured and ready to be moved, ma’am!" The first thing that Aranea heard upon coming to the barracks was Sly’s nervous report.

"The order was to deliver them to the armory!" A woman dressed in a strict leather long coat had turned with such speed that the lower ends of her coat formed a circle around her legs, showing the black boots beneath. The brown-haired woman had pinned Sly to the floor with her gaze, fixing the glasses on her round face with a gloved hand. "You have seven minutes, soldier. Failure to do so in the allotted time will mean that you volunteered to fix the city’s sewer system. The countdown has started, by the way."

Sly gulped and grabbed a large crate standing in the corridor, disappearing at an unusual speed, leaving two soldiers to guard the rest of the weapons.

The wolfkins were never a demanding people. For this reason, the warlords first ordered their troops to help the local population, leaving their own temporary barracks in a state of disrepair. Only the weapons were secured, some food was left to rot, windows were smashed, and the place itself looked like a haunted house.

Before leaving for the meeting, Aranea had given the order to Minerva to bring this place into a proper condition. The soldiers were everywhere, scrubbing dirt from the walls, fixing the cracks in the walls, and gluing new wallpaper. A pleasant smell of food filled the corridor, indicating that the kitchen was up and running. The broken windows were replaced. The lower ranks formed a den in the large room, snatching mattresses from broken beds on the floor and sleeping on them, curling in balls and warming each other as they did on the field. Minerva had put an end to this too, now rows of brand-new beds filled the room.

Outside, Tiny was leading the training for half of the pack. They had no right to use either live ammunition or duds, so the wolf hag had decided on a closed-hand combat training program and running courses around the barracks. The other wolf hag, a woman who served under Janine, was bringing new recruits up to speed. Aranea had to drag Larry away after the man heard how the wolf hag was instructing eighteen wolfkins about the ‘no domination and beatings’ policy. Aranea knew that the woman was embarrassed by these changes as they were, but she had obeyed Aranea without question and deserved some peace of mind.

Right now, the journalist and his people were pestering Tiny and her group with questions.

"No hunching!" Minerva snapped at Gin, forcing the male to stand straight next to the weapon crates, "You are the state’s soldiers, show some respect and dignity that are expected of your rank. If I see any of you… Warlord!" The woman saw Aranea and immediately stood at attention, "Welcome back."

"At ease, Minerva. Excellent work," Aranea smirked, noticing another Sly’s desperate leap, "Geldi told me that Kate was released from the hospital. Where is she?’

"She and Yuki volunteered to go help treat the prisoners' injuries, warlord. They also wanted to see if the familiar face was also captured."

"Inform me of their return. It’s time for Kate’s promotion."

"Naturally. I already prepared everything for the ceremony." The other woman nodded.

"We don’t really need any ceremonies…"

"With all due respect, warlord, it’s not about what any of you need," The woman lifted her chin up, showing her neck, "Feel free to bite me, but this is a question of morale, your pack has suffered heavy losses recently. A show of unity is needed to lift the spirits."

"I agree," Aranea nodded, dismissing the offer. The strange woman was right. The pack was hurt. And healing was in order. "What other news do we have?"

"Only Sonya will represent the pack at the Challenge. Leila and Kate are still injured, Yuki refused," A tingle of annoyance appeared in the woman’s voice, "Warlord, there is zero chance for your pack to win."

"Such is life," Aranea sighed before flashing a smile. She wanted to join the challenge herself. It would be an excellent opportunity to show that a wolfkin who ignores domination can be strong too. Plus, she was itching to have a go at Olesya in a friendly spar. "There will be other Challenges. Next."

"The power armors were fixed and are now being transported to us. We can start advanced training the next day."

"Really?" Aranea lifted her brow in surprise, "The engineers’ report told me that it will take three more days to get them sorted out."

"With all due respect, warlord, this wasn’t a proper way to solve this," Minerva put her hands behind her back, showing her neck again. This time Aranea saw several ugly looking scars left by a wolfkin's jaws on her tanned skin. "You are a warlord. You shouldn’t write a request, you should demand and get exactly what your pack needs, just like Janine did. If you write a request, the engineers assume that this is not something urgent. This is why I took a detour yesterday and made our needs clear to the engineers in person."

"And they agreed?"

"As if they had a choice. Our armors are repaired, painted, and recharged," Minerva’s lips formed a thin line. "Warlord, I must complain about the inefficiency of your people. The new year’s celebration and the Challenge are almost upon us, but as far as locating a place for the Challenge, little has been done. This is why I officially replaced warlord Alpha as the organizer of this event. The seats, contests, entertainment are all already being completed as we speak. I guarantee that everyone will be up to standard, and that food and fun will be in abundance." The word ‘fun’ sounded alien coming from the mouth of this icy woman.

Stolen story; please report.

"Thank you, Minerva..." Aranea replied honestly, forgetting that she was Ivar’s pawn, "But do you really have time for all of this? When will you sleep?"

"Rest is an alien concept for the state's servants," Minerva’s eyes narrowed when she saw the three people coming inside the barracks. "What are Eugenia's Four doing here?"

Aranea turned to face the iternians, cursing to herself. The Four! Hand-picked by Eugenia herself, these new breeds were involved in solving countless internal problems within Iterna. From stopping terrorists and criminals, to mending relations between various immigrants to saving lives during natural disasters. And occasionally, they helped Iterna’s military.

Electrician, the new breed who could control electric currents, was the man responsible for depowering a crawler and capturing its crew. Mist, the woman who could turn herself intangible. Lifecrafter, the new breed with the ability to control and create plants, wielding them at will. And finally, the strongest among them, malformed Skulltaker. The man responsible for the death of Janine’s firstborn.

Thankfully, this particular new breed wasn’t here, yet the atmosphere in the barracks had tensed at Minerva’s words.

"We’ve been found." Paride smiled innocently.

"It wasn’t this hard." The officer looked at him coldly.

"True. My alias is Lifecrafter, and this gentleman here is an electrician," Talsi said, shaking her shoulders and reaching out a hand. Minerva shook her hand without a second of hesitation, "Pardon the confusion, we came to pick up Jekaterina’s remains and decided to keep an eye on Larry until our ride arrives."

"What?" Aranea looked at the container, "Are you planning to resurrect her or something?"

"Maybe," Paride replied, "But most likely not. The command didn’t share the news with us, but iternian research institutes are always trying to keep tabs on abnormals. One of the most intriguing abilities is regeneration. For example, we have Jekaterina’s hand there," He nodded at the container, "Why couldn’t she regenerate from it? By all rights, there should have been dozens, if not hundreds, of Jekaterinas running around. Why is this hand dead, then? Questions, questions."

"That and we also take some dead vatgrowns with us," Talsi added, "Iterna will work with the reclaimers to find out who these new mysterious baddies are."

Aranea had countless more questions. Noticing how Larry became suspiciously quiet, she smiled and invited all three iternians to her room, treating them to tea and starting to ask her questions, ignoring the pain in her elbow. Someone else's secrets will be leaked by Larry this time.

****

“Namariste.” Zero pressed her paws together, saying her thanks in the language of people from the far south.

She was sitting in the intersection of several ventilation shafts above the hangar. This place had seen better days. The air circulation device in the wall was rusty and held on by some miracle. The walls had long lost their gray hue, becoming an unsightly jumble of brown and dark.

The warlord had chosen this place to be her private den. She spread a cloth on the floor, putting down a still-full bowl filled with steaming broth. Noodles, meat, and vegetables were circling inside the bowl, filling the place with an amazing smell.

Not exactly ramen, but close enough. Zero decided, taking off her helmet, sniffing the aroma in pleasure. Next to the bowl stood a food tray with strawberries, covered by the softest jam. Zero’s mouth watered at the anticipation. Chastising herself for being a sweet tooth, she picked up a strawberry and quickly crushed it between her fangs.

Delicious! The warlord decided, feeling juice mixed with jam come down her throat. Cooking was one of her many hobbies. To turn something already tasty into a dish that could spin your head around… Sitting herself down, Zero eagerly grabbed a spoon, starting with the main dish. Feeling a sweet mix of noodles, veggies, and meat in her mouth, she closed her eyes, allowing herself to slip into a realm of relaxation and enjoyment. Ah, what a life!

Her happiness changed into a frown of annoyance when she heard the sound of a moving body. Over the years, she mastered her hearing to the point that certain sounds created a color in her head. The Wolf Tribe's pattern of walking resembled the blue sky. The sand reapers were darkness. Her cousins were red.

Judging by a blue flash that came before her eyes and the intervals between movements, this strange newcomer could only be…

"Come on in, Carty." Zero sighed heavily and pulled the cowl over the head to hide her snout.

The lean figure dressed in a white shirt with long sleeves and elegant blue pants slid from the ventilation shaft, legs forward. Tugging at her shirt to remove dirt and insects, Carty sat, leaning against the wall.

"Sorry for the interruption, warlord," The woman spoke without a hint of apology in her voice, "I thought the place was abandoned."

"It is," Zero picked up a strawberry with a claw, "Since you are here, treat yourself."

"Thanks."

Zero felt a tingle in her heart, seeing how her sweeties disappeared in Carty’s mouth. A hit with a claw. A chomp. Pooh, gone. She had heard, of course, that any dinner is better with a friend. There was some merit to this, and Carty was classy and smart enough to appreciate the effort that Zero put into her every dish… But damn it, I specifically searched for a place where I would be alone because I hate sharing food!

Still, it was somewhat pleasant to see how Carty sped up in her devouring of the strawberries, barely spending time to lick the jam off her lips. After a momentary hesitation, Zero offered her another spoon, sharing the makeshift ramen with her too.

"It's getting crowded here," Zero's ears twitched beneath the cowl, hearing wolfkins' voices and footsteps in the hangar below. Some of them had already begun dismantling blocked routes and checking room after room, "I take it you try to hide from them? What’s this all about? They want to force you to compete in the Challenge?"

"Nothing of sorts," Carty took out a handkerchief and started cleaning out her claws and snout, "I signed myself. There's no way I'm missing out on this brawl," Carty clutched her knees and looked up. "You know those moments when you talk to one person, admit your worries to them, and then some random asshole eavesdrops, and everything spins out of its usual pace? I wanted to spend today meditating, but instead the big stupid oaf by the name of Annie crashes my door down in the morning and demands my presence at the celebration."

"Celebration…" Zero strained her hearing, listening to the words of the cursing wolfkins below them. Most of them were agitated about receiving a prize, others were simply caught in the thrill of a hunt, but two had mentioned something about a missing birthday, "Celebration is cool. Loosen up a little, Carty, and enjoy the party."

Zero had moved her leg much faster than Carty could have imagined. A simple kick crushed the metal beneath Carty, dropping the surprised scout straight into the small group of wolfkins beneath them. The scout had nimbly landed on both legs, looking for a way out, just as the pack piled on top of her, laughing that they had finally found her.

Zero joined them in laughter, taking the bowl into her paws and starting to feast in solitude. I might just prepare something tasty for everyone. A giant bowl of ramen? Nah, too long, and the splashes will be everywhere. A pizza! No, a gigantic pizza! This sounds like fun.