"Is everything clear?" Alpha stood up from the table, looking at Annie and Olesya coldly, "Get to work."
Two wolf hags looked at each other. Aside from them, only three other warlords were present in person. Janine, who was meticulously writing down something with a pen instead of using a terminal. Valerye, without her armor for once, sat at attention, attracting the curious looks of both Olesya and Annie. And finally, Zero, who was lazily cleaning her rifle at the far end of the room.
Javenika was sitting behind a nearby table, occasionally glancing at the wolfkins but mostly busy reading through reports. The inspector was still in her full power armor, only her helmet was placed on the table, revealing a face with traces of sleep deprivation.
This was a military council of sorts. The Wolf Tribe was given a small sector to govern, and now Alpha was busy putting patrols at the border with the resistance and assigning hunting parties to deal with deserters from the Regulators’ ranks, while Ivar and Scorpio planned the future war campaign and governed the Wastes and the Ravaged Lands as a whole. To aid Alpha, some of the forces from the Third Army were transferred under her direct command, making Alpha an unofficial captain and the third person in the entire Third Army, equal to the blue and black wyrms.
Annie barely had any time to clean herself before Alpha demanded her presence, making it painfully clear to both Olesya and Annie that they are here just out of honor for their warlords. A set of displays was placed on the table, allowing other warlords to look and listen to Alpha’s announcement. The strongest of the Wolf Tribe threw glances at the wolf hags during the council, speaking mostly with Janine and the other warlords. Occasionally, Foulsnout would speak, giving her advice on the overall strategy.
"Sorry, but no." Annie forced herself to say it, standing up and feeling a wave of terror wash over her.
She and Alpha knew each other for some time, but right now all familiarity was gone. Alpha’s upper lip moved, revealing hungry fangs, her nostrils exhaled air that physically made Annie’s fur move. Something akin to hunger was born in her eyes.
"What. Did. You. Say." The warlord of warlords demanded to know.
Annie looked at Janine, but the other warlord ignored the plea, writing something with a pen on a map, marking the sector that was assigned to her. Annie swallowed drool, wanting to scream from frustration. They can’t be this stupid!
"This brigade over here is overly exposed," Olesya said calmly, standing up with dignity and pointing at the map. Just like Zero, she too was in full power armor, the green visor refused to show her maimed face, "Look. Should an attack happen, they will be under the direct fire of no less than three artillery units."
"And these troops are nearly cut off from the main supply line!" Annie pointed at the map, feeling her fangs chatter. She had no idea how Janine or Olesya were so cool in the presence of the fear wave, Annie herself wanted to run out of the room screaming, "They are mostly made of normies! Alpha, for Spirits sake, normal humans can’t operate in such heat without abundant water! We need to build up another forward base and reinforce them with the new breeds…"
Janine chuckled, her laugh was echoed by several other warlords, and Annie found out that she could breathe again, feeling her heart calm down in her chest.
"Hm," Alpha snorted angrily, "So you aren’t useless after all."
"I knew they'd pass the test! I propose that we approve the promotion right away," Ygrite, the warlord in charge of guarding the tribe's villages, said theatrically, clapping her paws. Annie looked at her with pure bile, and the wolfkin simply shook her shoulders. Once she was covered in fangs from head to toe, her skin was a tattered mess. A strange mutation was killing her. But the state’s scientist performed a miracle, restoring Ygrite back to the prime of her health and even growing her a new eye. Out of all the warlords, Ygrite was the weakest one, the one who had lost her position several times by now, and the one who looked the most like a normal wolfkin, "Just accept the compliment and your promotion, sisters." Several other warlords nodded in agreement.
"I do not want to be accepted anywhere. My warlord is alive!" hissed Olesya, slamming her armored gauntlet into the table, "She will come back eventually! Don’t you dare call me a warlord…"
"It is not for you to decide," Janine threw offhandedly, meeting her gaze, "The packs need their leaders. Don’t like it? Beat me. If you can’t, shut up and follow our decisions."
"This… this was a test?" Annie looked at everyone's faces in disbelief, before shouting loudly enough to make Javenika nod in approval to her anger, "You are fucking, moronic, eldritch bitches! We are talking about war here, and you used the lives of others to what… To test us? What if we failed?! "People's lives are not worthless tokens to be spent on...”
"Had you failed, Janine would have added the corrections," Alpha leaned forward, silencing the outburst, and almost touched Annie’s snout with her own, "We had to know if you have what it takes to make your decisions and correct us when we overlook something. Thus, we purposely left some glaring holes during the planning phase in our formations, to prompt you two to speak up. You passed our test, warlords," Alpha’s jaws opened, and Annie found her head inside the massive maw. The twin set of fangs pierced her skin at the back of her head and the neck. The wolf hag became frozen in terror, unable to move out of fear and respect for Alpha. It was by her will that she lived, if the warlord decided otherwise, she was in the right to take Annie’s life. The maw let go of Annie and the wolf hag breathed in relief, sensing the smell of fire in the air, "Your insults are forgiven this time, sister. Both of you are allowed to correct any of us on the matter, both military and everyday life in our Tribe, but no more. Only after you grow in strength will we agree to engage in friendly banter with you. Overstep the boundaries once more, and I will leave a mark," Alpha’s eye moved toward Olesya, noticing the flaming claws coming from her paws, "And you."
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Alpha backhanded Olesya into the wall, far faster than Annie could see and faster than Olesya could have lifted her arms in defense. Olesya lost her footing, leaving traces on the floor, and Alpha was on her. Without thinking, Annie jumped to help Olesya and received an elbow hit from Alpha. It was a glancing hit, the supreme warlord never turned to face her, grabbing the Shell power armor from both sides and lifting Olesya in the air, but Annie lost her breath, coughing and bending in two.
Alpha held Olesya in her palms, not allowing the cruel claws to shred the power armor. The newly promoted wolf hag pressed all her muscles, both natural and artificial, and the ones provided to her by her power armor, trying to break free from the hold. The power armor whined, pouring more and more energy into the servo motors and straining itself from the effort. Annie wiped the drool from her mouth, jumping once more and aiming her claws at Alpha’s neck. The lower part of Alpha’s coat moved, and Annie lost all breath again, flying backward and gasping for air.
Annie expected to crash through the wall, but a strong arm caught her, stopping her flight. Zero lowered her to the ground, massaging the place on her chest where Alpha’s kick left a small dent. She could have killed me if she wanted to. With her heel. Bloody Abyss, is she strong. Wiping out a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, Annie glanced around, seeing the stone face of Javenika and the angry eyes of Janine. Foulsnout stood up with determination in her eyes, cracking fists.
"If you ever decide something, go through it!" Alpha snarled into Olesya’s visor, "Banish the doubts! Stop relying on this pathetic tool that you call power armor and embrace rage. You wanted to attack me to protect your kin? You should have gone with it, sister! Doubt, fear, and overthinking all contribute to battlefield casualties! Next time, bury your claws in my neck, make me whine in pain, and make me submit to you!" Alpha tossed Olesya aside like a ragdoll, looking at Foulsnout standing before Annie, and asked her, "What? Is this a challenge, little sis?" She demanded to know, and Foulsnout squirmed in fear.
“She… Warlord Annie saved E…E… E…” Valerye slapped herself across the chin, producing a small sonic boom that made the display shake. The woman tried speaking clearly in spite of the animal fear, "She saved Tiny! M….” Her voice cracked, "Your daughter! Annie deserves some leniency for this, and Tiny needs you…"
“It wasn’t…” Annie started talking, falling silent at the sight of the massive claw pointed at her eye.
"Tiny is a grown woman in desperate need of a male and cubs. She got a decent one, hopefully another will soon follow. The last thing she needs is a monster posing as her mother," Alpha said, waiting for Annie to bare her neck in submission and guilt. The claw struck, leaving a small cut on Annie’s neck, right next to the bleeding marks left by the fangs. Alpha turned to Valerye, letting out a sigh and speaking more calmly, "Scout Tiny suffered a broken bone and a few cuts, according to Geldi. I’d say that this proves that she can stand up for herself now," Alpha covered the space between two warlords in an instant, casting a shadow on the retreating Foulsnout, "Show some pride and rage, Red Streak. Never dare be afraid of me. With my own broken bones, you have earned the right."
"Eh, don't take Alpha's violent outbursts too seriously, we all got a few cuts from her," Ygrite smiled warmly, earning a hateful look from Alpha, “Big sister already accepted you two, now she just wants to start a fire in you. Trust me, should you ever find yourself in any sort of trouble, you will be glad to have her at your side. Feel free to joke with me anytime, s…” The screen of the display went static for a brief second before returning the image, “…sisters…” The screen went dark, and the whole room shook, throwing bottles off the table and disconnecting cables from the displays.
****
From the capital of the Resistance, all the way to Dresgen fortress, every person in the Ravaged Lands felt what was later named the Quake.
In his capital, King pressed his back against his throne, terrified by the tremors that ran through his mighty fortress and the sound of several buildings collapsing outside. The panic and uncertainty lasted for a few moments before King leaped from the throne, forcing himself to come outside to speak with the population, banishing their fears and helping people dig themselves out of the rubble.
Wolf hag Bel and her companions were temporarily buried while inspecting former Rraghr's underground turf. The ceiling came upon them, and the malformed wailed in fear, thinking that Rraghr’s spirit had come to punish them. The yells were quickly silenced when the stones separated, allowing an angry-looking, dust-covered Bel to emerge, dragging Thornclaw behind her. It took her pack a good fifteen hours to evacuate everyone out of the tunnels.
Alpha was the first of the warlords to appear on the fortress' walls, snapping orders and making certain that no soldier fell from it by accident. Her gaze was drawn to an avalanche of stones falling on the convoy as it moved up the mountain. The men and women never even noticed that they were in danger, for Alpha appeared above them, cutting the stones into dust. She left just as abruptly as she had appeared, roaring commands to the troops. The additional parties were dispatched from the stronghold to check on nearby settlements.
The seismic activity was vast enough to be detected by all three great powers. Immediately after the diplomats contacted each other, the Dynast and Lord Steward started accusing one another of unleashing either Outsider or Dominator in the Desolation. The misunderstanding was cleared when Artificer and later Ravager contacted the government, explaining what exactly happened in the Desolation.
Several settlements had buildings toppled, and numerous mines across the Ravaged Lands were buried in the avalanche of stone. Trading convoys found themselves stuck on the usual safe routes, and the insectoids poured into the open, stirred by a destruction wave unseen in this region since the day of the Extinction. The Resistance and the Reclamation Army hastily signed another treaty, joining forces for a few weeks with the goal of reducing the amount of destruction brought upon their people. The Desolation experienced a horrible humanitarian crisis, ending with their people joining Iterna as vassals and with Iterna sending convoy after convoy into these lands, bringing food, water, and medicine to the region.
The Quake, caused by a battle between two abnormals, resulted in the formation of a forty-kilometer-long crack that split the main plain in the Desolation in half. Ravager’s involvement in this event was kept secret from the Wolf Tribe and the general public at her request.