As it turns out, the cold could in fact damage her. Coughing and sneezing, Janine sat, dressed in the gifted sweater, a new stylish coat, and two sets of pants, and wrapped a warm blanket around her whole body. She left her room, ignoring the doctors’ pleas to stay and recover. She swam through the toxic wastes; she endured the poisonous stings of insectoids; she walked through zones filled with enough radiation to kill a normie, she will not be brought low by a freaking common cold!
Her bravado could only last for so long as Janine learned to stand up. Her legs trembled! She endured a bout against Lacerated One and lived to tell the tale; her whole body itched and strained under the recovery effects of Ravager’s drool, and yet the reason she had trouble moving around was because of a simple illness!
Okay, Janine, settle down; there is no need to be upset. Lacerated One has also left the praying den after feasting on the frozen food. You are not alone in your misery. The thought of the Supreme Shaman lying in bed like a little cub, sneezing and coughing, has lifted her spirit a bit. She herself had to spend yesterday sleeping off the damage to her body, with her Wolf Hags taking turns to bring her food and water. Eventually, she chased them off, waiting for Kalaisa to come for the night’s talk, but she never did. Out of curiosity, Janine called Ygrite and received the answer that Kalaisa was lost in reading. What in the Abyss could this ball of anger even read?
Oh, well, one less problem on my paws. Janine sourly looked at the approaching Impatient One.
“A soup?” she raised her brows, noticing a plate in her daughter’s paws.
“There is a bit of chicken in there, the doctors said…”
“Shaman, my body is literally devouring itself to heal my wounds, and you bring me water for sustenance?” Janine interjected, hearing her stomach rumble. “Fine, give it here. And make sure no one ever again eats frozen food…”
“About that.” Impatient One scratched behind her ear. “Our cousins introduced us to a treat known as ice cream yesterday. It is cold itself, but the soldiers seem to like it. I tested it myself!” she said quickly under Janine’s heavy gaze. “It is a degeneracy of pleasure, but quite nutritious and has caused no illnesses thus far.”
“Great,” Janine grumbled, drinking the soup in one go like milk, “so I am the only one cold-sensitive here.”
She let go of the shaman with a nod and focused on the training field. She was sitting on a small dais, trying to get comfortable on the strange contraction known as an armchair, whose softness threatened to swallow her whole. The Warlord didn’t mind the enveloping warmth of this pointless luxury, but as a leader, she had an obligation to look presentable.
Four packs are training right now. Wolfkins from Ygrite’s and Janine’s packs were busy passing the training course to free the hostages. Carrying shardguns with paint ammunition in their paws, they stormed a special set of buildings, downing normies and new breeds who graciously agreed to play the roles of slavers and raiders.
It wasn’t an overcomplicated job; the buildings were located amidst the staged rubble, allowing scouts to sneak in and map the mines’ locations. Ignacy used a few soundless drones to fly above the ‘raider camp’, pinpointing the location of the enemy troops. Then Anissa struck from the south, with Kalaisa taking the north, leading just scouts in this initial assault. Silently, like moving shadows, the Wolfkins sneaked around the rubble, bypassing the defensive perimeter, and started the ‘carnage’. Four points for the sneaky approach. One point for wielding the unknown gear.
Claws were touching the backs of the heads, and strong paws were grasping necks, simulating mortal wounds. Trained exemplary, the soldiers immediately went limp, allowing the Wolfkins to hide the ‘bodies’, before climbing on the perimeter towers and eliminating the remaining opposition. Four points for efficiency. Next came the signal, and the main force moved out, led by Wolf Hags. Like a storm of darkness, the two packs struck at once, sweeping floor to floor, eliminating the opposition, and rescuing the hostages. One point for a well-timed and carried-out assault.
Janine tapped on the terminal next to her, observing how the packs were performing within the buildings. Despite the apparent ease with which they overcame the opposition, the drills were necessary. Shardguns were by no means precise weapons, but rather butcher’s tools. With the ‘raiders’ cramped inside and their ‘commander’ grabbing a ‘sex tool’ by her throat to use as a shield, now came the hardest part.
One of the ‘slavers’ tried to put a hostage before himself, and Bogdan fired his shardgun, painting a slave’s shoulder red and striking the raider hiding behind him. In an actual field, this would’ve left the poor man with a stump for an arm. Minus two points for the mistake, there was more than enough time to finish off the target before he could pull a hostage before himself. Plus one point for saving a life. Janine has made a note to ask Anissa to run her brother through the additional firing drills.
Kalaisa stopped before the enemy leader, loudly demanding a surrender. Janine’s eyes narrowed at this, and she was already ready to deduce three points for pointless halting when the wall behind the foe came crushing down and Kirk stormed inside, wrestling the weapon away from the slave’s neck before the foe could paint her blue. A good stunt. Janine grinned, adding one point for quick thinking. A standard protocol in this situation was to either speed up and spear the enemy’s eye with a claw, rupturing the brain, or to shoot at the legs, dropping both the hostage and the enemy.
The brother and sister moved on, crashing through the floor and jumping on the raiders below. To the boy’s credit, in battle he had little trouble looking at and working with his sister. Only his breathing was slightly increased. Maybe the helmet helped him tolerate his abuser.
He kicked one of the ‘raiders’ away, accidentally discharging his weapon into the ground. So, not only his breath. Janine chastised herself for not noticing that the boy’s finger was on the trigger all along. As a person who oversees the operation, it was partially her duty to contact the group and prevent this exact behavior. Minus one point for her mistake. Minus two points for Kirk’s mistake.
The drill ended shortly, with the slaves being liberated and the raiders surrendering. The packs stormed outside, laughing and bantering, no longer bothering to keep up a strict formation or discipline. They helped the downed normies stand up, throwing a few people above their heads in celebration of the mission’s success. Anissa had to smack a few fools around, before the rest dropped the cubbish behavior.
The regular soldiers spend little time celebrating. Already, the engineering teams have begun rebuilding the training area, preparing it for the next pack to arrive and try their paw at rescue. Once completed, the regulars will move back, once again assuming their roles, only this time shifting their positions and patrol routes. A thunderous roar from the opposite base indicated that the other two packs had passed their training course as well.
“My bad,” Kirk said quietly, taking the helmet off. “I’ve made a mess.”
“Eh, relax,” Ignacy yawned, coming closer. “Bogdan was the first one to make a mistake.”
“Yeah, and you could’ve kept your mouth shut about it!”
“And passing a chance of rubbing this into your face? Nah.” Ignacy dodged his brother’s friendly smack before retreating to hide behind Elzada, who only oversaw today’s training but could not take part because of her back injury.
“Asshole!” Bogdan laughed and came closer to Kirk, putting one paw on his shoulder. “Stop fretting about it. We are here to learn, and so we learn, even from mistakes. A few toilets to clean up ain’t that big of a price for survival on a field of battle. And besides, you are not the biggest mess around here; trust me, Kirk.” Bogdan cast a sidelong glance at Kalaisa and retreated to Anissa’s side. The Wolf Hag snapped her fingers, calling Ignacy to her, and lowered her head, whispering something.
Janine’s finger stopped above the turning off button when she noticed Kalaisa approaching her brother. Hissing angrily, Janine prepared to call Ashbringer, who oversaw the discipline in the camp for today. It pained the Warlord to admit it, but she was too weak to beat the youngster into the ground right now.
“We’ve been over it, Kirk! Unless you are planning to fire, keep your finger off the trigger,” Kalaisa asked her brother, hesitating at the last moment upon seeing him tremble. “Tch, come on, you’re way better than this. Fine, scout, explain to the buffoon how it’s done again,” she threw to her sister and went about correcting greenhorns in her pack. Without hitting anyone.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Who bit her? Janine tilted her head, removing her finger from the call button. Should I call security and report a potential spy in our ranks?
“Hey!” Kalaisa turned to look at Anissa, who had climbed atop the ruined wall. “Are you up to the challenge?”
“That depends.” The corner of Kalaisa’s lips twitched. “What can a weakling like you do to provide me even with the tiniest challenge?”
Ah, still the same bitch. Janine felt a bit more relaxed.
“Wait, sorry, let me rephrase that.” Kalaisa raised a finger. “Sure, A… Anissa, I would like to have some fun. What are the rules?”
What in the name of the lightless Abyss is going on!? Janine suddenly felt worried. Should she call the medics? Ygrite? Dammit, what happened yesterday to this woman?
“The rules are simple. You.” Anissa pointed at Kalaisa with two fingers. “Come at me and try to knock me off the wall while Bogdan and the others are taking shots at you. The winner pays for tonight’s drinks…”
Kalaisa let out a thundering roar before Anissa could finish. Lowering herself on all fours, the Wolf Hag charged forth, jumping above her brother and leaving her helmet behind. Her power armor went offline, ending up being just a dead weight.
And this didn’t hinder the woman one bit. Janine gave a nod of respect, seeing how blood lusted Kalaisa easily spotted Bogdan stepping from behind a ruined stone. Using just the tips of her fingers, Kalaisa has easily stepped to the right, leaving the balls filled with paint to fly past her. Two more Wolfkins jumped from hiding, firing at Kalaisa and driving her further to the right to evade the shots.
And driving her straight into the rubble. Janine kept on watching the cameras, putting her head on a paw. Anissa has planned this stunt from the beginning. A mine filled with paint was hidden amidst the stones, a suitable trap to take down a wild beast. Wolf Hags would sometimes take their soldiers into the wilds, playing the role of a wild beast for their soldiers to overcome.
A clever ploy, but one that ultimately did not matter here. Anissa had forgotten to state in the rules that Kalaisa had to act like a wild animal here. Despite her roar and despite running on all fours, the Wolf Hag has merely pretended to be lost in the heat of battle.
Her eyes tracked everything in her path, spotting the metal just in time. Normally, Wolfkins run on all fours, using their full paws and feet, slamming them heavily into the stone. Kalaisa had followed in the footsteps of the late Terrific, traversing across the field on her fingers. Aside from the obviously perfect training to turn her fingers into a truly terrifying weapon even without claws, this also allowed Kalaisa an excellent range of movement. Without a hint of hesitation or a moment of stalling, the Wolf Hag’s fingers have grabbed a stuck piece of stone, stopping a millimeter away from activating the mine.
And then she propelled herself at Anissa without destroying the stone or activating the mine. Her body weaved in the air, evading shots with almost disgusting ease, her paws closed into fists, while Anissa was hastily putting on her helmet, with a drone flying up from behind her back.
“The booze is all mine!” Kalaisa laughed.
Her laughter was cut short when the drone let out a burst of sound. Even through Anissa’s microphones, Janine had heard enough of its potency to make her grimace in pain. Her daughter’s armor trembled under the assault of this strange wave of sound. And Kalaisa herself squirmed, moving one paw to her ear.
Anissa used this moment of weakness to come upon her opponent, grabbing Kalaisa by the throat mid-flight and throwing her off the wall. The Wolf Hag came crushing down on the stone, trying to stand up, only to be mercilessly gunned down by the soldiers. After a fifteen-shot landed between her eyes, Kalaisa lifted a paw up, admitting surrender, and joined her laughter to the soldiers’.
“I thought the shamans were not supposed to use weapons!” Kalaisa complained to Anissa, trying in vain to wipe the paint off her snout. “What in the Spirits’ name was that?”
“Technically, I didn’t use any weapons; it was all Ignacy,” Anissa beamed, giving Kalaisa a paw. Kalaisa looked at the outstretched limb, dumbfounded. Slowly, she grasped the paw, and Anissa lifted her and massaged Kalaisa’s ears. “And shamans are allowed a bit of trickery when needed. Packs hunt as one, always using the strengths of each other. Breathe slowly, yes, like that. In and out. I have experienced it just yesterday; the effect is about to wear off.”
“This is the sonic scrambler!” Ignacy explained, coming closer with the drone drifting behind him. “You know how disruption fields work, right? It vibrates sound to such a level that it breaks molecule bounds, cutting everything in its path. Well, this beauty works.” Ignacy took off his helmet and lovingly looked at the machine, “by emitting a thin, narrowly focused stream of sound in a straight line. It is too weak to kill a new breed, but upon entering your eardrums, it causes a mild shock to your sensory system, resulting in temporary disorientation. It is still very much in the testing phase, but once perfected, it can maybe one day be mounted on a mech to serve as a mobile disruption gun…”
“Magic. Got it.” Kalaisa replied sourly.
“It isn’t magic, it is…”
“Witchcraft. Black magic. You deserve to be burned at the stake,” Kalaisa said in an accusatory tone. “But since we don’t do it, I’ll just bathe you in cold waters instead, to banish the evil spirit that possesses you.”
“I am not the one needing a shower.” Ignacy smirked.
Kalaisa only shook her shoulders, disappearing from sight in a blur. Janine stood up, worried that the Wolf Hag might strike her son, when Kalaisa kicked the rubble near the wall. The mine went off, splashing yellow paint on everyone nearby. Anissa looked as if she was about to let her claws talk before grabbing herself by the sides and falling back, laughing.
“Whoopsie-daisy, seems like now you do.” Kalaisa snatched Ignacy with one paw, lifting him into the air easily. “Off to the shower you go, and I assure you, it’s going to be freezing.” She looked down, feeling a sudden hit against her side. Elzada stood near her, wheezing, and Kalaisa had to grab her by the shoulder to help the newly promoted Wolf Hag stand. “Elzada, I disrespect you and all, but you are barely walking! No need to make it easier for me, ‘kay? I am just fooling around. We already have one stupid piss-head around here.” She threw Ignacy into Bogdan, stumbling them both. “No need for you to turn into one.”
A tingle of fear announced Alpha’s approach. The dais shook when Alpha slammed a steel chair next to Janine, sitting herself nearby. She was wearing a red coat provided by the city, and her red hair looked like a pillar of flame above her head. Alpha had no brows or fur—just the pure whiteness of her enormous body. Not a single vein was visible beneath the skin. Her gigantic claws could operate no machinery, so the woman gestured for a scout from her pack to come closer, showing her a terminal.
“The packs performed adequately,” Janine said, seeing the overall score of Onyxia’s and Alpha’s packs. Alpha mercilessly deduced twenty points from their score for falling silently to approach their target.
“Adequate,” Alpha snapped angrily. “For normies, perhaps. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have such numbers to allow our soldiers to die in vain. We need better infiltrators.”
“And more firing drills.” Janine showed her own terminal, pointing out the mistakes.
“Free hugs!” They looked at the field where Kalaisa charged forth to meet Anji. “Hey, didn’t ya promise me one not that long ago?”
“I retract my offer,” Anji chuckled, stepping back to avoid the paws covered in paint.
“Too late! It’s hugging time! Come ‘ere!” Kalaisa laughed and jumped at Anji. The white-haired woman barely dodged this embrace and backed away, laughing back as Kalaisa followed her.
“Cubs,” Janine sighed. “We are dealing with cubs here.”
“They merely take the lead after their leaders,” Alpha replied in a dry voice. She turned her head, and Janine trembled, feeling cold sweat come beneath her fur.
The memories of her mother abandoning her came back; she remembered the cold look in her mother’s eyes years later, when Janine had found her. No daughter of mine can be such a worthless freak. This was the response to the question. Fear of seeing an insectoid chewing on your leg, fear of losing her cubs, pure horror at seeing her firstborn dying… Everything came back, threatening to still her heart. She tried to breathe and felt as if an iron hand grasped her windpipe, refusing any access to oxygen.
“What is the deal between you and Lacerated One?” Alpha growled, wielding the fear like a needle and sticking it straight into Janine’s brain and making her body twitch.
“I am planning to make a proposal at the Gathering,” Janine gasped, feeling how the fear dissipated, allowing air to come back into her lungs. “The shamans examine a family pack and send all members into a pack based on an average score. I want the shamans to allow us to select the troops ourselves, allowing us to take in individuals based on their merits.”
“You want them to give up the power.”
“It will be their decision to make.”
“Our decision. A stupid, pointless change, Janine.” Alpha grabbed her by the neck, and this time she felt genuine fear. She saw what Alpha could do with her claws. For now, they were closing behind her neck, threatening, with Alpha easily holding her neck just with her fingers. “Think about it more closely. Most of the time, we are in the field. Do you expect us to leave and go to the individual villages to select an individual soldier to join us? What lunacy is this?”
“You…” Janine stopped, thinking about her sister’s words. “You are right. It won’t work. But we can’t continue the…”
“I agree.” Alpha removed her paw, leaning back in the chair. “The idea behind the change is solid. You just haven’t thought it through. Let all—shamans, wolf hags, and us—select troops based on individual merit rather than family ties. If a warlord is present, she chooses. If she can’t attend, she can send a wolf hag in her place. Or she can allow shamans to choose, or they can choose if a warlord can’t be contacted. There, five seconds, already a better plan.” Alpha glanced at Janine. “If you bring change into a society, you always have to consider the negatives. Lives are on the line, sister. Were you planning to ask for my support?”
“No,” Janine replied honestly. “I can’t endure a round against you.”
“Coward. Moron,” Alpha said. “Think, Janine! Ravager’s command forbids all fighting while we are in the city. What better time to ask, if not now? Ask everyone, be open to ideas, and share your fears with your sisters already! Stop acting behind our backs like a shaman. Even if we won’t agree, we can listen, and we are here for you.”
“I will try,” Janine lied.
Never again will she be involved in the Tribe’s politics. Alpha is right; Janine’s initial proposal was abysmal and pure stupidity. She needs to be better and know her place.