Chapter 97: Chapter 90: A trap for a trap.

"… This is the gist of it," Aranea finished speaking, feeling emptiness inside her. Some part of her refused to believe that Janine was dead. Noticing a flying drone over the camp, the wolf hag roared, "The command told us to retreat! Our warlord is dead, her body is not recovered, the blood debt is not settled, and they want us to turn and run?!" She was standing on a small dais, made of four boxes, addressing the packs before her. Aranea crashed her fists against each other, feeling how the drone was filming her. Something it wasn’t supposed to do, "Fuck it! We will find the bastards who did it, and we will gore them…"

"Wolf hag Aranea!" Keyl pushed forward, a lone white figure in a sea of angry, black-furred figures. The knight captain ignored the silent aggression coming from all sides and played his role with excellence, "Respect the chain of command!"

"You dare?" Aranea hissed at him. She raised a hand, giving a signal for Olesya and Annie to come closer to the knight captain. The warlords’ presence instilled discipline, "Our mother is dead, and you… Dismissed. Knight captain, after me!"

She jumped off the box, stomping toward the large command tent, leaving footprints in the ground from her fuming rage. This part was easy. Aranea was enraged. And scared. Someone precious, someone who replaced her mother, was gone…

Steel your heart, or you will lose more. Aranea let the grief retreat for a moment, playing her role, and entered the tent.

The tent was wide enough to allow for sixty people. On other days, operators were busy receiving commands and coordinating the advance. Most of the operators have been asked to leave, leaving only a skeleton crew.

Wolf hags and scouts from the packs gathered around the large table in the middle of the tent, along with a few warriors, and Marveni Ursico with two of his people. Aranea gave everyone a quick nod before approaching Kaleb and Kate and hugging them.

"I am sorry." She whispered to them. Janine was like a mother to all of them, but these two were the closest to her.

"We will live." Kaleb replied sternly, returning the hug.

Aranea nodded to them and took her place at the head of the table, standing at attention until Olesya and Annie seated themselves. Olesya raised her natural eyebrow but said nothing. She no longer wore the Shell, walking instead in all her new glory. Olesya no longer felt afraid to show her true self in training, celebration, or even meditation lessons led by Carty, only freaking out when other wolfkins admitted their envy of her augments. Aranea smiled to her, feeling happy that at least something had worked out as it should.

"Sly, have you checked captain Scorpio’s suspicion?"

"Yes," Sly stood up, putting both paws behind his back, "Bentos hacked into the drone network. These bastards filmed our every step, turning off the drones that were supposed to warn the warlord."

"Then it is time for payback!" Aranea smashed her fist into the table, causing all cups on it to jump up and silencing all curses. There was no time to waste on anger, "Some of you might not know it, but Olesya, Annie, and I learned about the warlord’s death an hour ago and came up with a plan. Warlords, if you…"

"No," Annie cut her off, "Enough of the pretense. It was your plan. Go with it."

"Of course," Aranea nodded to her. Thanks, I guess, but I could not care less about the laurels, "Captain Ivar gave us the order to act on our own initiative but hold this place at any cost until Alpha arrives. Should we stay put, Huntsman and the Soultakers will retreat, gaining a more favorable position from which to strike at us in the future. We can’t let that happen. Instead, we will lure them to a battlefield of our choosing and end them there. This outburst," She nodded to Keyl in gratitude, "Was part of this plot."

"We will do nothing about the drones, right?" Ursico asked.

"Not exactly. Sly?"

"I can hardly take the full credit, but the people in command and the teacher came up with a program to clear the systems. "As soon as we send it in, it will reboot all of our drones, giving us back control and closing the backdoor that Bentos used to sneak up on us."

"Before that, we need to force Huntsman and the enemy force to attack us," Aranea took a remote from the table, pressing the button, and all light in the tent was gone, allowing her to turn on the projector with another button, showing images on one side of the tent. First, she showed Huntsman, a giant of a man, "This is the prime target. Easily the same size as a warlord, and as we saw from his battle with venerated Martyshkina and honored Janine, he is in their league. No matter what, do not engage him in a melee. The target possesses an ability to teleport, but either consciously or subconsciously always teleports behind the prey," She pressed the button, showing images from his battle with Martyshkina. Huntsman never teleported to the side; he always teleported behind the back, "We will use this flaw to our advantage and plant mines, luring the scum exactly where we want him."

Aranea looked at everyone around her, feeling a tingle of fear and uncertainty. Here she was plotting a way to kill an opponent at the level of a warlord, potentially leading everyone under her command to a certain death. She cleared her throat.

"Just to be clear, this mission will only involve volunteers."

"Don’t you dare cut us off." Kate hissed angrily, and Kaleb nodded in agreement.

Sonya raised her paws, looking as if she was about to unleash her claws for a second, before gently grabbing Kate and Kaleb by the shoulders.

"Don’t throw your lives away. Honor the warlord by living."

"We will. This is why we must make sure that others will live through it." Kaleb gave Sonya a pat on the shoulder, causing her to chuckle.

"We are in too." The three medics spoke in unison. They looked at each other with momentary surprise before Geldi continued, "No way we will let you bleed out."

"I am in," Yuki added, her body one of the few bright sources of light in the room, "I owe Janine this much."

"And I owe you a debt…" Keyl started talking.

"You…" Aranea quickly shook her head, "You think you owe me something? Okay, I'll take this offer. Go home, find yourself a mate, and live happily ever after, away from the danger. Live for me instead of throwing your life away for me, and the debt is cleared."

"No," The knight captain replied stubbornly, before flashing a smile, "No to your offer to leave. Yes, to live. We are far too valuable an asset to leave, and captain Javenika has told us to stay until her investigation is completed. Zeke and I trained to protect others, and truth be told, we are one of the strongest here."

"Oh really? Such a bold claim, knightly boy," Carty purred. Annie tapped on the table with a finger, and Carty immediately dropped the casual act, "My apologies, knight captain."

“Ready to show this whenever you want, sweetheart." Zeke smirked to her. Keyl leaned forward, giving him a click on the nose.

Aranea let out a sigh, calming herself. Keyl was right, of course. His power armor was even more advanced than hers, and his rank was equal to that of a wolf hag. Cutting him off will endanger others. She raised her eyes, praying to the Spirits that everyone here would come back, that she didn’t make a mistake, that…

"Then it is settled," She banished the worries. The time for war had come, "Operation Retribution will proceed as such…"

****

"Why aren’t the prisoners healed already?" Jericho demanded to know, stepping into the back of the armored prisoner carrier.

This was the vehicle provided to them by the Bento tribe, a vehicle meant to transport prisoners from the rank of abnormals. The insides of this car were done in typical bento style, with gleaming steel covering the floors, walls, and ceiling, and a few electrical lamps lighting the entire place. There were eight prison cells protected by transparent force fields and iron bars.

The captured shamans were each placed in a separate cell, and the bitches had already made short work of the iron bars and the harness that held them, stopped now only by the force fields. Jericho smirked arrogantly at them, slightly enjoying the rage in their eyes. One cell, meant for the warlord, was empty, while in others captured reclaimers were thrown. The doggies were locked by a harness to the wall, and normal humans were allowed to stay free.

Sixteen guards armed with heavy weapons were watching over the prisoners, ensuring that the valuable targets, the shamans, will reach Jekaterina safe and sound. One of them called Jericho after Anissa refused to treat certain prisoners.

"Well?" The officer demanded to know, nodding at the cells. Most of the prisoners were already healed, but one doggie breathed heavily from several gunshot wounds that revealed her guts, another male lacked a finger, and several soldiers were bleeding profoundly from gunshot wounds. The guards bandaged them, but without help from a medic, they will probably die.

"I am afraid to come close to the doggies." Anissa, a Young Guard member, admitted the fault with crimson on her pale cheeks. She wore a long black leather coat with a medic's badge, along with the exoskeleton beneath her coat.

"We will solve it, don’t worry," Jericho spoke calmly. Yes, the fear was natural, he should have thought about it, "And the soldiers?"

"They are a mortar crew. The artillerymen."

Jericho grabbed her by the chin, forcing the ashen-haired woman to look him in the eyes. When she tried to break free, he tightened his grip, causing the young woman to twitch in pain and not allowing her to break eye contact.

"Explain."

"You saw Belaz?! Have you seen the border villages?!" She cried out, "The ruined buildings, the toys near them… These bastards are the scum who have been shelling the homes of our people! Fuck them, I…"

She went silent. Of course, he heard about the unofficial rule about not taking any artillery crew alive. Many of the soldiers lost their homes and loved ones to shells or missiles.

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"I see the issue," Jericho let go of her, punching Anissa in the gut with all his might, rage boiling inside him. They were the elite! The woman collapsed on her knees, gasping for air, and he stood on her knees, "See, here’s the problem. You don’t get to decide who lives and who dies. Once you do, what makes you any better than these invaders? At first, you let one prisoner die, fuck him, who cares, right? But this is rot, Anissa. It will worm its way into your heart. You then let another prisoner die, then approve the killing of surrendering prisoners, and before you know it, you go even further. And the worst part? Well, aside from becoming the thing you hate?" The medic shook her head, and he grabbed her by the throat, choking the life out of her. Her eyes bulged from the sockets, she grabbed his hand, trying to pry his fingers apart in vain, "Violence goes on both sides, Anissa. What if, because of your actions, someone murders our prisoners? What if someone won’t help you in your hour of need?"

Jericho removed the hold on her neck and stood up.

"Obey our laws, medic. If you can’t, file a request for a discharge. If you won’t, I will shoot you. What will it be? Can you serve?"

"I… I can." She gasped for air, massaging her neck.

"All is forgiven. We all make mistakes sometimes." He said this while holding Anissa's hand and directing her toward the doggies. Fear was unacceptable in her field of work.

The medic made an uncertain step, clearly feeling fear before these mutants. Jericho turned off the force field leading into the cell himself, stepping first and gesturing for her to follow, standing guard while Anissa used her healing touch.

The woman reached out to the warrior, touching the doggie beneath her jaw, and the edges of her wound started moving. With a vindictive look on her face, Anissa took a step back, and the doggie gasped, feeling how her torn guts moved toward each other, pushing the remains of bullets away, and how the skin stretched, closing over the wound. The doggie’s muscles reknotted, and the soldier’s body was busy running through the storage of fat to supply this amazing healing process.

Another mutant was next, this time the medic touched him without fear, causing the enemy soldier to scream from pain when a bone shot from his finger, followed by the flesh and nerves moving up to encase the new finger.

"Now let’s fix those fuckers, before the time limit runs out and I have to work with my hands." Anissa said in a defeated voice.

"Why bother? Let me eat them" Huntsman appeared in the middle of the compartment, holding his spear with one hand.

"You!" Jericho shouted, coming at him. The bastard was covered in her blood!

Every inch of Huntsman’s body was covered with dried blood, both crimson and dark red from venous blood. When he moved, it cracked, falling on the floor like mist. Huntsman licked his fingers as he stared at the prisoners, barely holding back his hunger.

"What is your major dysfunction?" Jericho demanded to know, standing in front of this towering man. Even here, when the shamans stood at full height, Huntsman had to bend his body, making his head loom over the officer. Anissa tried to stand up before her superior, but he pushed her behind himself, gesturing for the guards to take aim at the giant, "Where is the warlord?"

"The bitch’s dead." The shamans howled, slamming their arms into the shield.

"I’d guessed this much!"

"I dropped her off to be delivered to the reclaimers," Huntsman said as he checked something in his teeth and spat out a piece of fur and some bone, "King's orders."

"King’s… orders?" Jericho felt his head hurting from the sheer blood pressure in his veins, "You ignorant, ugly, worthless sack of shit! Why did you kill her?! She was helpless!"

"Stop buzzing in my face before I swat you away like a fly," Huntsman said, putting his hand to his ear.

"Try it. Dare to lift an arm on any Soultakers, and I will turn you to stone."

"You will try."

"Maybe. If I fail, Jekaterina will have your head." The officer smirked.

"People die at war, big deal."

"You moron. Soultakers build an entire country by sticking to the rules. By refusing to descend into barbarism, we rose above nature. What did you build?" Jericho demanded to know, "Aside from the pile of corpses? Nothing, that’s what! I don’t care what King says, Jekaterina is the one who rules here! We needed the POW to buy time…"

"Shut it," Huntsman removed his palm from his ear, showing him an earbud, "King just told me that we can get two more warlords."

"We could have had three!" Jericho screamed into his face, "They only have a few of their number, with such precious POWs, we could have ended this whole war… Never mind," Jericho calmed himself, "Anissa, please heal him and the soldiers. Then come with me to the crusher; we'll see King's grand plans there. If he has the same competence as his servants, then it might be a trap."

"Calm your tits, fool," Huntsman chuckled, reaching out his left arm to the medic, "King has already dealt with three warlords for good. No more Anji, no more Janine. He even crippled one more personally! And how many warlords have the Soultakers managed to beat? One? Oh well, if you will behave, I just might bring you three more warlords."

Jericho did not like Huntsman’s smile. He hated everything about this man, it disgusted him to stand in the presence of this cannibalistic filth, much less serve with him. Even now, this fuck up caused them more harm than good. He shook his head, looking around the room. Jekaterina might trust King, but he sure didn’t.

"This carrier will return to the base. We will use the crusher’s prison to bring other warlords in. If you see Huntsman appearing anywhere near the prisoners, kill him." The officer told the guards, waiting for the giant to leave.

****

"Prostrate." Jackal felt the doggie above him chuckle, repeating the words.

He stubbornly refused to do so, looking into the amber eyes of the rust-colored bitch. At least he thought it was she, because her voice sounded feminine. After the gigantic bitch threw his first tank aside, this scum and the others jumped from the underground, coming at them like a wave. He saw this rust-colored monster to punch through the tank’s track before cleaving its hull with the energy axe.

Surprisingly, all of his people were still alive. Their captors dragged them out, forcing them to stay on their knees while they removed their helmets, bringing the remains of the warlord to the feet of the gigantic bitch sitting on the ruined tank as if it were a throne.

The warlord stood up from the tank, closing in on the remains. Her helmet slid away with a soft hiss, revealing the furless creature with shining amber eyes and purple sclera. The beast hunched over the deceased body, sniffing her. A long tongue protruded from the creature's mouth, licking something in the ripped chest of the deceased. The warlord tore out a few pieces of meat, covered by something black, and gulped down the flesh. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she made a sigh before allowing her eyes to return and look sorrowfully at the dead body.

"Ah… So this is how you fell," The warlord stood, straightening up, "Janine is to be delivered to Houstad."

"What about the farewell ritual?" Asked one of the wolf hags.

"No burning. Janine wanted to be out of the Tribe, so we let her sleep eternally in the city that she saved, next to the volunteers that she led."

"The shamans won’t like it."

"They are free to try and voice their disagreement," The warlord spread her arms, "Virginia, you taken the pills today? Eat the daily dose of veggies?"

Several nearby wolfkins chuckled as the rust-colored wolfkin cringed visibly, hissing slightly in embarrassment.

"Y… yes! Enough already, I said that I am sorry for acting like an idiot!"

"We all care for you, Virginia," The warlord spoke mockingly, "Stop playing with our guests and deliver them to the rear. Remove the armor from me. I have a blood debt to settle."

The warlord’s voice changed, and her troops leaped to her, quickly removing armor plates from her body. Almost in divine reverence, the doggies fell on their knees, and Jackal felt animal fear. The warlord stood without her power, somehow even more horrible than before, covered only by several bone necklaces that the wolf hags put on her neck, around her chest, and around her hips. When the warlord made a step, Jackal gasped for air, falling face down against his will and praying to the cruel gods that this beast would pass him by. Some of his people cried out in fear, calling their parents and trembling on the ground.

"He likes to bite others," Jackal heard from above, and the ground trembled as the warlord approached the Ash Forest. "Let's see what he tastes like."

****

Fear. Fear ran across the plains, instilling horror in every living being. The reclaimers touched by the fear wave gulped nervously. The resistance soldiers looked into the night with fearful anticipation that something terrible was about to grasp them. Entire hives of insectoids started migrating, and the queens felt that extinction was closing in while walking nearby. Sand reapers choose to move away from the Ash Forest, no longer carrying about all the tasty human flesh. Even the trees themselves shook slightly.

Alpha was coming. Every living being in the leagues felt the rage of the strongest warlord, but they did not know what caused it. Even skinwalkers laughed approvingly, happy for Alpha. Her sister was killed. The blood debt was incurred. The night was filled with the giggling of skinwalkers, who were the only beings not afraid of the encroaching horror. In fact, they gathered to revel in the slaughter. Among them was one figure, much taller than the others, giggling as loudly as the others before pressing paws to the oversized mouth in a horrified gesture at some memory. But skinwalkers never stay still for long, and the figure soon rejoined her sisters, giggling anew.

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