Click, clack, click, clack.

Olesya stood at attention, looking at the display that showed how her warlord strained herself on a simple walking course. The moving road below her was currently turned off, but Martyshkina barely made two steps, grabbing the guardrails and breathing heavily.

The warlord looked horrible, a torso-sized patch of fur was missing from the front and back of her chest, revealing gray skin beneath. She lost weight. The hospital robe that covered her once-mighty body showed how the ribs now protruded from her body, holding hanging skin and fur at her sides. The light from her eyes had dimmed to the level of embers. Some of her fur grayed, and the warlord's shoulders shook from the strain of keeping her body upright.

Martyshkina managed to make another step on her trembling legs before coming to a grinding halt, like a rusted and half-broken machine in desperate need of maintenance.

"I need help," Martyshkina said, and two nurses nearby hurried to her, gently lifting the warlord in the air and taking her off course, seating her on a nearby armchair. The flying drone that was filming the scene flew after the warlord. Martyshkina slashed the tip of a plastic bottle with her claw before pouring some juice into a glass, "You see how it is. I am weak as a cub, my skin is gray, and the doctors told me that it will take at least half a year to banish this shit from my system. In the short span of time, most of my muscles became atrophied, and without medication from around here, I won’t survive. I can't even walk to the toilet on my own."

"No need to fixate on the negatives," One of the nearby doctors turned to Olesya. The man showed no signs of distress upon seeing her augmented body, instead, he gently smiled, "Your mother is in proper hands, miss. Everything is…"

Olesya merely smiled back, while the warlord laughed with a bombastic laugh, making the man look at her in confusion.

The warlord was in a spacious hall that was called a rehabilitation center. Olesya saw several people, both new breeds and normies alike, trying out their new limbs on various fitness equipment, testing their limits under the constant supervision of doctors. The medical personnel were anything but normal, their bodies were too well built, and their facial features looked almost angelic. They moved around with grace unbecoming such mighty bodies, not a single scar marked their perfect skin. Any moment the patient in their care suffered discomfort or trouble, one of the doctors was near the patient in an instant, producing almost no sound with their burst of movements, taking away even the heaviest weights and helping to stand up even the most imposing figures with casual ease.

Olesya heard that it was common in Iterna to improve yourself to suit your new job, and seeing the buffed men and women around here, the new warlord believed this now.

"I’d sure wish to have a daughter like her one day," Martyshkina waved her paw, almost spilling the juice in the glass. A nurse appeared behind her like a ghost, helping to keep the glass steady, "No, this is Olesya, my new warlord."

Click, clack, click, clack.

"Warlord, don’t call…"

"Silence!" Martyshkina snapped, and the amber light flicked brightly in her eyes for a split second, "The pack can’t be left without a leader. Having any troubles? Call me, we’ll solve them. Feeling insecure? We can have a talk again. Need to learn something? Call me any time of day. But don’t you dare deny your rank, Oles, or I will gore you myself!" The warlord tried to stand up and fell helplessly into the armchair instead.

"Yes ma’am!" Olesya saluted the warlord, refusing to call Martyshkina any other way. Martyshkina's free time was over, and she needed a good sleep again, according to the display that went dark.

Olesya and Martyshkina spent hours discussing her new duties, the warlord gave her an extensive list of people who could help Olesya get new equipment fast and in time. It was not the problem, Olesya blackmailed Till Ingo into becoming the full benefactor of her pack by bluffing that she will opt out of the experiment if he wouldn’t help with the repairs. The man grumbled, but eventually gave in like usual, on the condition that he be allowed to lead elementary lessons for the pack members. Velka and others grumbled, and Olesya had to order Danulka to clean all toilets in the fortress for a day, then warn her about a week, and finally threaten her with a month to make her cave in. But now all her soldiers attended new courses, learning new professions and a bit of literature.

Click, clack, click, clack.

The wolf hag eventually asked Martyshkina when she will return, and the warlord showed her the state she was in. Olesya took a pot with a large cactus in it, looking at it confusedly. Martyshkina will be out for months, if not years. Olesya’s natural physical fingers touched the sharp spines, that covered this strange plant left by Martyshkina. The spines failed to pierce her skin, and the wolf hag put the plant away, watering it and wondering why she kept this gift from settlers.

Martyshkina’s gigantic power armor was repaired and now stood in the armory. Her twin revolvers hung from the wall in Olesya’s room. The wolfkin tried to use both of them, finding the revolvers’ recoil too great for her arms and the power armor technically inferior to her Shell.

Olesya shook her head, checking the mail before starting the evening reading list. Most of the reports came from the wolf hags, who complained that Alpha forbade them to leave with their packs, limiting the training area to a small patch of land before the main entrance to the fortress. Hine requested to be sent to guard the commune, eager to be out in the wild. Danulka requested permission to reinforce her pack with three new laser rifles, her scouts had shown interest in them. Olesya refused the first request and approved the second. And lastly, there was…

Click, clack, click, clack.

"Olesya, sorry for calling late," This was a video message coming from her father. The image on the screen showed a wolfkin with a bit of gray on his shoulders. He bared his neck, showing his exposed throat in respect, "Your mom asked me not to bother you, but we are worried. Congratulation on your promotion and all, warlord, but please tell us: why are you avoiding us? Have we done something? Is this because of your injury? Olesya, you can tell us anything. I am sure we can find a way to push through anything. "I swear on my life, little one."

Oh dad… Olesya felt her remaining eye getting murky. Her finger stopped above the reply button. She couldn’t bring this shame to them, right? The ones who replace their bodies with steel lose their connection to the Spirits. Everyone knew that. Ravager taught them that! It's better that they think she's ungrateful than that she's an abomination.

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Someone knocked at her door. Olesya jumped out of the chair and leaped toward the power armor. Following her will, the Shell made a step toward her, seams that run across its mighty arms and legs opened, allowing Olesya to slip inside. She felt wires, needles, and adapters slide into the openings in her body, allowing her to become one with the machine intelligence within. Neural overlays were activated, giving Olesya full control.

"Who is it?" Olesya’s dynamics boomed, shouting the question angrily. She was supposed to be left alone!

"It’s Aranea. I am with Tiny and Hekanta."

Olesya raised her remaining brow, letting in all three. Upon hearing their request, her first decision was to kick all three out with force. Upon thinking about their request, she relented, allowing the Shell to let her out. To her relief, Tiny wasn’t shocked by her ugliness.

Click, clack, click, clack.

“Give me a moment to dress up.” Olesya finally decided to do something really stupid.

****

"Target is approaching. Repeat, the target is almost there." Mak whispered over the radio.

"Hear you loud and clear, Mak. Leg to us pronto," Velka turned off the terminal, facing the rest of her team, "Now or never."

"I still say that we should just go the usual route and attack her," Hine growled, putting up the collar of her jacket, feeling uncomfortable without power armor. Velka and the others spent hours trying to convince her to get out of the armor, and then they had to drag Hine to the showers, otherwise, none of them would be allowed into the bar, not with such an odor around, "She beats us up, sees that we are strong, and starts trusting us."

"Just trust me, ok?" Velka pleaded, feeling a little horror at her initiative. She really had no other choice.

Olesya was too distant, even for the warlord. Already the lower ranks grumbled that the warlord did not trust them with her face. Even Foulsnout was showing her face to the ones who joined her. It was only a moment before scouts and even wolf hags felt themselves betrayed. It could not last, and it should not be allowed to last.

They tried everything. Hine volunteered to go to the most dangerous place. Danulka agreed to try unorthodox weapons. She even tried to get Olesya all riled up to awaken the flame in the new warlord. No luck. The pack even agreed to get schooled by an outsider, and the warlord was still distant, never coming to drink with them like Martyshkina did. What good is the pack if their own warlord despises them? And Velka finally came up with a plan. She had no idea why the others, a group of fifty reckless idiots, decided to follow her instead of literally any other wolf hag. Her plan was something that the Wolf Tribe members don’t usually dare do when it comes to the warlords.

The bar was lively today, filled with both wolfkins, new breeds, and normies alike. Valerye Foulsnout was the one assigned to watch over the evening party. The warlord was sitting on the balcony on the third floor, looking down through the lens of her helmet. When she sensed a disturbance among the wolfkins, her fingers would snap, releasing a concentrated stream of air toward the ruffian, knocking her or him off their legs. Typically, this immediately restored order. The military police really had a lot of duties to perform, and with several warlords in the fortress, every member of the Wolf Tribe tried their best to behave.

Some soldiers from the ranks of normies and traders were starting drunken songs here and there, and occasionally the new breeds and the wolfkins joined in with the singing, shouting drunken words toward the ceiling and celebrating being alive. Velka and her group kept their silence, occupying tables at the far end of the hall and earning confused glances from the members of the Alpha’s and Janine’s pack, who wondered why they didn’t order anything. A few soldiers even came to have a chit-chat, an omega named Ron offered to pay for a round of drinks, and Velka politely refused him. Ever since, other omegas have been throwing glances at them, wondering what they were up to.

The doors opened, and four women walked in. Aranea, Hekanta, Tiny, Olesya, and Yuki. Velka’s eyes widened at the sight of Yuki, she had heard that the former scout was hurt pretty badly, but looking at her now…

She was magnificent. Her fur was a solid black color, and she was dressed in a tight, green-skin suit that covered her from neck to feet, leaving her paws free. Her bones emanated bright light, barely contained by the darkness of her fur, allowing everyone to see the movement of every bone on her head, paws, and feet. Not a single scar marked her body.

Olesya was dressed far more modestly. She was wearing a thick crimson hoodie, the cowl was thrown on her head, but a crimson light from the artificial eye was coming from underneath it, falling on her ruined facial features. She produced metallic sounds with each step, despite wearing heavy boots and camo pants. Her paws were in her pockets, and her lower jaw was covered by a sweater collar. Upon seeing her, the wolfkins jumped off their tables, standing at attention.

"I am not here as a warlord," Olesya said, trying to hide the lower part of her snout, "At ease."

Hekanta, dressed in a pitch-black long gown and looking stupidly expensive in this place, excused herself, walking away from the group and joining Marco, who took her by the hand gallantly. Velka ignored them, rising from her seat and nodding to the wolfkins. It was time to work.

"Yuki?" Sly rose from his seat at the table.

"Sorry for making you wait so long. And sorry for being a coward," The warrior said as he grabbed his paws and hugged him, “I decided that it is time to kill Blaguna for good."

"Yuki, she is dead. You are safe, I swear to you."

"Of course, I am, you are with me! My friends are with me!" Yuki laughed, sitting by his table with Aranea and the others, "But the bitch kept invading my dreams, keeping me pinned down in horror. No more. Scared or not, ugly or not, life, here I come!" Yuki threw her head back, wrapping one arm around Sly, "Spirits! My kin! All others! I love Sly!"

"That deserves a shot!" Aranea laughed, "A round on me! Cheers for our friends, everyone!"

"Cheers!" The hall roared back. Foulsnout looked down at the situation before turning her head toward Velka and her group.

Olesya removed her hoodie's cowl, taking a drink from Aranea and gulping it down all at once before casting a nervous glance around. The warlord was massive, even without her power armor, part of her head was covered by exquisitely made steel, one of her arms was made out of metal. When she licked her lips, Velka saw that the metal was even ingrown into her tongue, merging together like some sort of parasite.

"Nice lightshow. Wish you and Sly as many cubs as you want to," Velka said, and Olesya stiffened, slowly turning to her. Yuki and Sly only beamed, accepting the compliment. Velka stopped, unsure of what to say to the eyes of her warlord that were burrowing into her. She had the whole speech planned with doctor Philip, written down to the letter, and right now… The scout jumped, feeling how Hine kicked her in the butt, "Warlord. We are here because we care about you. I have no idea what you are going through, but we are here for you. Forgive my rudeness, but we are worried for you. If you ever need to speak with someone, our ears and hearts are open."

Foulsnout crashed back into her chair with enough force to make it crumble, landing down on the floor and apologizing to a staff member who rushed to her.

"Have you seen me?" Olesya gasped, pointing at her face with a finger made of steel, "Don’t you care that my soul is gone?"

"No," Velka answered honestly, "You kinda look cool, Olesya." The scout shut her mouth, realizing that she had just called the warlord by her name.

“Never was a believer.” Danulka shrugged elegantly.

"Could care less. You are strong, that’s all that counts." Hine spoke in a hoarse voice, tugging at her collar nervously.

The warlord opened her mouth for a second before closing it like a fish in the videos that Till showed them. She reached for a bottle of beer, grabbing it and pouring it down her throat, raising a finger. Aranea laughed, kicking Olesya in the side, and the warlord jumped from her seat.

"I need to call someone. It’s urgent. Velka, others, have a good time, I’m paying. We're going to big training tomorrow morning, so don't drink yourself all the way down to the lower planes of Abyss." Olesya said quickly before running out of the bar at full speed, evading the surprised staff and soldiers.

Did I fuck up again? How? How am I managing to keep doing it? Velka thought sourly, sitting at Olesya’s place and taking up a bottle of beer from Aranea. It was idiotic of me to listen to this stupid male. Talk things out. Ha! As if it ever works!