To her surprise, Aranea found the warlord in her personal tent rather than on the outskirts of the fortress. The two bodyguards of Valerye only briefly glanced at the wolf hag before allowing her to come in, the male went inside the tent along with Aranea, while the female remained outside.
The warlord sat on a small bed. Valerye's tent looked very utilitarian in nature, even Janine always loved to keep various medals and photos of the important places near her sleeping place in the camp, as well as keeping the richly adorned with rubies cup, her reward for saving Houstad, nearby. Valerye’s tent looked outright deserted. Her cloak was carefully folded and used as a pillow, the reforged power armor stood near the sleeping place, a sack with everyday items was carelessly thrown on the ground. Aside from that, there was nothing. No flags of the defeated nations. No artefacts from the Old World.
"I…gnghhh… imagine you have questions." Valerye said in a rasped voice, sounding like the screeching of broken gears.
"Yes." Aranea replied simply.
"Normally, I would send you back to Janine with a few broken bones… But I am feeling generous today. My father is a new breed from outside of the Wolf Tribe. Mom and dad hooked up during one drunken orgy and… Well, I am the result," Valerye raised her paw, noticing a surprise look from Aranea, "I know that it is a sacrilege and all, but I was approved by…"
"Who cares about that!" Aranea cut her off, and the warlord growled. Valerye may have looked different from the other warlords, but she, too, was used to being respected by the lower ranks, "Why are you wearing the helmet all the time?"
"You have seen my face, right?" Valerye quickly asked, pointing at her helmet with a finger.
"And? The state gives no shit about race, and neither do we. I saw the photos that were taken earlier in your career, you used to lead the troops without hiding your face. And your headaches and claws…" Aranea stopped, unsure how to proceed, "Why didn’t you let medics treat your wounds? Why did you erase all images of your face from the records?"
"Maybe I don’t want to be reminded of what I’ve lost," Valerye laughed out loud. She raised her paw anew, showing the horrible scars to Aranea’s eyes, "These injuries were dealt to me by Alpha herself. This damage that you see is sacred. If I even dare as much to…" She stopped, shuddering, and Aranea understood, with a shock, that Valerye was scared. The warlord who faced Chort head on, who challenged all other warlords, was genuinely scared to her death of Alpha.
"Alpha won’t give a single thought about it." The male bodyguard said.
"You have no idea what she is capable of. If you anger her, Alpha’s wrath will follow you to the edge of the world."
"And this is exactly why the warlord congratulated you after you appropriated her training courses and shared them with warlord Dragena. Face it warlord, blessed Alpha gives little shit about insults." The male said, looking above Valerye’s head.
"Valerye, the damage that you got is treatable," Aranea tried to speak as softly as she could, "Even if hospitals in the Wastes or Ravaged Lands can’t put you back together, the ones in the Core Lands can…"
"Enough!" Valerye jumped to her feet, and Aranea bared her throat, sensing the rage coming from the warlord. Valerye’s fingers twitched nervously, and the male hit the warlord at the back of her head, causing the woman to exhale air loudly, "Enough. You are sounding just like my dad," She continued more calmly, "Don’t think I don’t appreciate the gesture, wolf hag, but I have chosen my fate. Leave me to it."
****
Well, that could have gone better. Aranea decided, storming out of the warlord’s tent. Back in the days, Valerye was one of the first who dared to challenge the usual order of the tribe. And Aranea had seen the warlord with her own eyes, the woman was beyond strong. If only the stubborn fool would see the doctors and undergo the proper therapy to get well again, she could be an invaluable ally in changing the tribe. But not everything would work out from the start. Valerye worked with Dragena once, huh?
All calmness was gone from her thoughts the moment she looked up. Dresgen fortress. The home of Blaguna Nokto. Aranea felt her fingers twitching at the mere thought of seeing Blaguna once more, at the idea of tearing at the woman’s throat and ripping it out, bathing in her blood for all that she had done to her pack. For Kostya. For Yuki. For Kaleb. For Kate. For any and all who died in the torture chambers. She will level the walls herself, if needed, but will reach Blaguna.
The Dresgen fortress was located on the top of the mighty looking mountain. A long road led to the top, where the main fortress was. Four mighty defensive points, gates of sorts, were spread all the way around the road, built with the intention of halting the invasion force, allowing the defenders to barrage the incoming enemy forces with all their weapons. Despite the deep night, the walls of Dresgen fortress were brightly lit, showing the mighty towering bastions of solid black stone that seemingly spread all the way toward the clouds. Countless artillery pieces, missile launchers, turrets, and rows upon rows of soldiers stood at the bases of these walls, ready to repel any and all intruders. Cannons, the size of buildings, took aim at the army standing some distance from the slope.
This place was built with the last resort for the regulators in mind. A place where citizens from the entire region could hide and weather whatever storm was haunting them. This fortress is said to be capable of feeding half of the Regulators' population for a year. With only the garrison here, it could stand for years. Not even the omegas found a way in, and Alpha advocated starting an assault immediately without giving the enemy a chance to recuperate after a loss of Bloodmoon Bastion. Her advice was rejected by the captain.
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Even the most powerful warlords will perish when confronted with a barrage capable of destroying a city. The crawlers were using their own energy shields and point-defense weapons to stop any attack that the defenders fired at them, while the army group of captain Scorpio was keeping siege around the mountain. The black wyrm himself took to the field, lazily laying on a hill in front of the road leading toward the fortress. To his left was a clearing, a round hole in the ranks of the besieging army, no less than thirty meters in length and width. For the last five days, all that the captain was doing was chatting with Ofelia and speaking with someone over communication, lazily allowing the sunlight to make his scales shine brightly. He only contacted Aranea once, ordering her to find something for Leila to do.
The half-wyrm kept her pack well trained and supplied, leaving them little free time, but when Leila was not busy staging joint training with Virginia, Tiny, and others, she was seen looking at the captain through binoculars, even going so far as to ask Tiny to make a sketch of him for her. While the entire camp had the time of their lives laughing about this behavior, even Ofelia started teasing the captain about it, Scorpio’s composure cracked. Aranea sent Leila alone to scout the lands to their west, a foolish errant, for this territory was under the control of captain Ivar, but her absence calmed the black wyrm’s nerves.
Aranea’s eyes spotted Sly sparring with Tiny, under the supervision of Sonya. The moment Sly missed timing for a block, Sonya blocked the incoming punch with her palms, frowning from pain, while Tiny quickly tried to make an apology. Both Annie and Virginia were nowhere to be seen, their packs were located in the rear, while both wolf hags challenged each other to the extermination of local insectoids. Judging by the fact that not a single creature had yet attacked such a huge gathering of people, the duo fully intended on culling out the entire local wildlife. Well, at least they no longer fight each other.
Janine walked from her tent, trying to put on a shirt. The warlord was without her flamecaster and her axe, a rare sight even in peacetime, but Scorpio made it clear that not a single warlord will be involved in taking down Blaguna. Ivar took down Yasen without their personal help, and the black wyrm refused to be outdone.
Aranea hurried to her leader, helping her put the shirt on. The wound on Janine’s back was already healed, leaving just a wide patch without any fur on her body. It will take weeks for her fur to thicken enough to stop a bullet again. Janine glanced at Aranea but accepted her help, moving on to have a snack before going to sleep. Aranea had no idea what exactly was in the report that Marco had sent to the captain, but now Janine was ordered to have a stable meals three times each day and six hours for sleep. The warlord seethed with anger at this show of "weakness," as she said once to Aranea, while all the wolf hags under Janine’s command felt relieved that the warlord was recovering.
Finally, Aranea saw the ones she was looking for. Kate was geared in full power armor, looking up at the mountain, clenching her fists. Kaleb was nearby, finishing checking gear for tomorrow’s training.
"Kate, Kaleb, how are you?" Aranea asked, coming close.
"Just peachy, wolf hag. I can't wait to see an old friend lose her head." Kate hissed, continuing to look at the mountain.
"Alive, in one piece, and motivated, wolf hag." Kaleb darkly said.
Aranea wanted to speak with them both when a soldier came. The captain was demanding her presence.
***
"You too want to act as Ivar and offer me Blaguna’s head?" Aranea asked directly, and Scorpio looked down at her for a moment.
The wolf hag barely had enough time to put on the power armor before she raced toward the captain on all fours, uncaring for her looks in the eyes of the normies. The order was clear, she was to arrive in under five minutes.
Scorpio and Ofelia were the only people on the hill, aside from Aranea. All around them, the camp was coming to life, the soldiers were starting to form ranks, taking positions around the clearing next to the hill, leaving barely anyone to watch the main road.
The enormous wyrm looked confused. His right eyelid lifted, allowing the purple pupil to look the wolf hag over. His massive body became still. From afar, a weary traveler could easily mistake him for a hill. Finally, he and Ofelia first chuckled, nearly in unison, and eventually started laughing out loud. The woman hid her face in the space between two massive scales, trying her best to stop the laughter, while the captain wiped yellow-colored tears off the corners of his eyes:
"N…No…" He stopped laughing, regaining his composure, "Ha… Death, any death, is a poor recompense. No, I have something far grandeur in a way of showing my apology for violating your mind. Tell me, Aranea, what is the best way to defeat a nation?"
"I dunno," Aranea shook her shoulders, turning to look at the fortress. The Omega team failed to sneak in. The warlords could not take it down easily. What was Scorpio planning? Feeling his look on her back, she made a guess, "Behead its leadership? Destroy its armies and eliminate their will to resist, like the blessed mother was doing?"
"This is merely a half of the solution. Where there is a life, there is a will. Behead one and another one rises to stand against you eventually. This is what Ivar just can’t understand. Cruelty must never be an end goal. I never truly knew your blessed progenitor, but based on the history, Even Ravager, for all her flaws, understood this simple rule, hence why she allowed his excellency to placate a population soon after a conquest. No," Scorpio said, turning his head toward the fortress, "People are what make a country. Soldiers are coming from a populace, after all. And ask yourself, what is going to happen, if families of these soldiers choose to throw in their lot with another country?"
Before Aranea could say anything, an explosion rang out on the western side of the fortress. A flame busted from one of the balconies, spitting out smoke. The wolf hag looked in confusion, while alarms sounded all the way around the fortress.
"First, establish a cell among enemy ranks," Scorpio continued talking, while gunfire could be heard. The Regulators were firing from the walls at someone within the fortress, Second, turn the populace to your cause," Aranea saw how a sickly green mist rose from within the fortress, licking one of the walls. A house-sized cannon simply dissolved before her very eyes, along with a large portion of the bastion and several soldiers, while others desperately tried to retreat. A familiar form jumped on the ruined wall, escaping the shots that followed her from behind, Third, spread propaganda and let a full-scale rebellion be born. For the sake of this strategy, Blaguna was allowed to live this long. Now, the usefulness of her madness has expired," Blaguna Nokto, her coat torn with bullets, ran across the wall of the bastion, aiming to reach a group of soldiers that were desperately trying to get an iron door leading within the fortress open. She raised her arms and mist flowed from her, eager to devour any matter in front of her. Scorpio only clicked with his tongue at this, "Ofelia, now is the time, my dear."
"Sure thing, honey." The woman smiled and snapped her fingers.
The leader of the Regulators disappeared from the wall. Instead of killing the rebels, she found herself crashing into the center of the round area next to the black wyrm.