The Colony, City Hall
Billy pushed a trolley laden with boxes of documents and rolls of parchment. She stopped at the elevator and pushed the button, and as she waited her eyes drifted to the poster stuck on the noticeboard.
<First Summer Festival! Come with your family and friends!> Was written in bold letters, and lifelike colorful images were displayed. Billy smiled, thinking of asking Kaga along to the festival that was just three more days away.
The lift doors sprung open with a ding, and Billy pushed the trolley in, sighing as she returned to her mundane job, despite missing her free life but in Falledge, she was grateful for having a roof over her head, food on her table and the sense of security of the City.
"Endure three more days!"
-----
Northern Forest, Hydro Dam Power Station
Corporal Bartley Jackson leaned his thick muscular body over the packed sand barrier and sigh worriedly. He looked at the large swath of blue-greenery of trees and in the fall horizon, a reddish glow and thick grey clouds of smoke could be seen.
The air smelled slightly acidic, as ashes and the haze from the forest fire was carried over by drifts of wind. Even the sun was blotted out from the amount of haze in the air, making the entire area dim. Lightning flashed in the distance among the clouds of smoke.
Bartley frowned slightly as he stood watch from the three storied tall reinforced concrete watchtower next to the Dam, where a large lake was dammed up, and the constant roar of falling water, that turned the turbines of the dam muted the rumble of thunder. He thought he spotted some movement in the far distance.
He picked up his field glasses and scanned the edges of the forest. A perimeter of roughly 500 meters was cleared around the Power Station, giving the defenders clear lines of fire and making it harder for any enemies or monsters to approach. There were also couple layers of remote control claymore mines planted around the Power Station and barbed wired fences ringing the last hundred fifty meters to the station.
A sudden movement caught his attention, and he swept his field glasses over and spotted a blur of white that appeared in his 10x magnification view. Bartley adjusted his focus on the field glasses and saw a wolf half hidden among the forest edge.
Bartley frown grew deeper as he observed another large wolf appearing beside the next. He keyed his comms, "Tower 2, to Aquarium, I got eyes on two wind wolves, north-eastern quadrant, Over."
"Aquarium, Roger, standby, out."
Bartley returned to observing the two wolves, and they both gingerly paused at the edge of the cleared field. By now, remote cameras installed at the Power Station would have picked up the two wolves and he wondered what the new Lieutenant would do.
He checked his MG-1 on the mount, making sure the ammunition belt was not snagged against anything and returned to observing the wolves who seemed to hesitate and kept looking over their shoulders.
"Aquarium to all units, hold your fire. Only fire by my command." The Lieutenant voice came in over the radio set.
Suddenly the wolves seemed to sense something as they stepped out to the cleared land, and faced the forest, their hackles, and tails up in an aggressive stance.
Bartley eyes' went wide as the wolves turned, and saw tiny shapes on the backs of the wolves. "Tower 2 to Aquarium, be advised that the wolves appeared to have pups on them, over."
"Aquarium, Roger."
Just at this time, suddenly a small rain of dark shapes coming from the forest appeared over the two wolves, who leaped and dodged like they were dancing or playing and a small flood of green shapes appeared from the forest edge, rushing towards the wolves.
"Tower 2, I got goblins engaging the wolves over," Bartley reported as he glued his eyes on his field glasses. "Please advice? Over."
"Aquarium, standby over."
Bartley cursed in a soft voice as he rooted for the wolves. "Come on, you can do it."
The goblins encircled the two clearly weaken wolves protecting the pups on their backs, and hidden goblin archers shot arrow after arrow at the snarling wolves. Goblins spearmen kept the snapping jaws and claws at arm's length, constantly giggling and shrieking away.
The wolves barely had much strength left, looked at each other and suddenly they leaped over the heads of the short goblins, breaking out of the encirclement and charged towards the Power Station.
"Aquarium to all units, set your sights at two-fifty meters, make ready!"
"What?" Bartley lowered his field glasses as he listened to the radio chatter. "The Lieutenant wants to shoot the wolves with the babies?" The wolves were limping towards the perimeter fencing with over a hundred goblins chasing after them.
"Aquarium to all units, target the wolves followed by the goblins."
Bartley gave a conflicted look at his machine gun before he detracted it with a determined look and slung it over his back. He hooked his booted feet to the sides of the ladder and gripped the sides before sliding down rapidly, expertly controlling his rate of descent with his gloved hands and feet.
He sprinted out from the tower and ran towards one of the gates at the perimeter fence, praying that he could make it in time. He glanced over at the Power Station's roof, where several helmeted heads could be seen, manning their weapons.
Reaching the gate, he unholstered his revolver and fired at the lock without coming to a stop, and slammed his whole body weight against the small gate with the shot off lock, sending it swinging opening and squeaking on its hinges.
He saw the wolves were roughly 300 meters away from his position as there were colored markers stuck at measured intervals for the defenders to gauge distances. He ignored the squeaking calls on his comms and just ran with full speed towards the wolves.
-----
Lieutenant Starven stood up from his chair from surprise inside the security control room and stared incredulously at the large Marine charging out to the killing zone. "What is that Marine doing?" He asked the roomful of personnel who also stared in surprise at the camera displays.
"Call him back now!" Starven roared, "Who is that mad man? What is he trying to do?"
"Sir, that should be Corporal Bartley from Tower 2!" One of the operators replied, "He was the one that called in the sightings."
"Call him back!" Lieutenant Starven roared angrily. He stared with anger at the moving figure on the display screens. It was not even two weeks he took over command of Battalion 1, Charlie Company, Platoon 4 and those hoomans in his command were disregarding him!
"Sir, he is not responding to our hails!" The operator replied. "The wolves are approaching the 250 mark! Do we still fire? We might hit him."
"Goddamnit!" Starven cursed, "Warn him off now!"
The operator turned back to his radio set and desperately tried to call the Marine that went rogue.
-----
"Corporal Bartley, cease your actions and return to your station immediately!" Bartley's comms squeaked, which he ignored as he pumped his arms while sprinting towards the wolves. The two wolves slowed and glared at him as he approached, while also keeping an eye behind them at the horde of goblins at their tails.
"Steady!" Bartley stood before the two wolves who towered over him with at least twice his height. Bloody foam could be seen on the sides of their jaws, while their massive tongues lobbed out and their sides heaved with each pant. Wounds and bloody marks could be seen all over both the wolves when Bartley was up close to them.
One of the wolves suddenly collapsed as its rear legs gave out, and the three dog sized pups cried out in fear, meowing for their mother. The remaining standing wolf positioned itself before Bartley and growled, baring its dagger sized teeth at him.
"Easy! Friend!" Bartley gently said while spreading his hands to the side to show he meant no harm. He slowly moved his hand to his communicator and keyed the mike, "Aquarium, do not fire, repeat, all units do not fire on the wolves!"
"What the thirteen hells are you playing at, Marine!" Lieutenant Starven's voice screamed into his ear. "You will return to the Control Room now and place your self under arrest for the abandonment of your post and total disregard for orders and your superiors!"
"Sir, the wolves are just trying to protect their young," Blake explained slowly and calmly like he was talking to a child which infuriated the Lieutenant more. "They meant no harm to us. We have no need to fire on them."
As they were talking the cries of the goblins grew louder and standing wolf panicked, it tried to protect its fallen sister and at the same time having to be on guard against Bartley and the approaching Goblins.
"Corporal, I don't care if the Gods themselves are out there, you disobey direct orders and abandoned your post!" Lieutenant Starven screamed, "Get your ass back here now!"
"Sorry Sir," Bartley stoically replied, "Since I have already disobeyed orders, I might as well continue."
"What? Get back here n-!" Bartley disconnected his communicator and unslung his MG-1 from his back. He turned and faced the coming goblins and braced himself and fired.
The wolves and pups jumped in shock at the loud buzzing roars coming from the strange two legged creature. They cowed on the spot and covered their sensitive ears from the loud roars, whimpering in fright.
The MG-1 spewed bright tracers out towards the coming goblins, the high powered 8.5 mm rounds torn through their makeshift armor and naked bodies like paper targets, dropping them in scores.
Bartley grunted and fired in a long burst at each cluster of goblins he saw still standing. The heavy recoil made controlling the weapon difficult for most people but not for him and the Orcs as he had a naturally larger build and stronger upper body strength.
Less than five minutes, the remains of the goblin force retreated in fear, screaming and crying in their tribal languages as they ran back to into the cover of the forest.
Bartley lowered his weapon and looked at the very scared wolf standing over its sister. Its tail and ears were lowered and plastered against its skull. It gave a growl of warning at Bartley who gently put his weapon down on the grass, and raised his hands up, "Easy, I am a friend."
The wolf looked at him with suspicion and at the weapon he placed on the floor and decided to trust him, for both she and her sister were totally spent, having been on the run non stop and attacked by monsters for over five days.
It flopped down on the ground and panted, her strength leaving her body and laid there with half opened eyes watching the two leg approach her slowly.
Bartley slowly made his way towards the giant wolf and patted it gently on its head, letting the wolf lick his hands. "Good girl. Friends."
He looked at the frightened pups trying to hide under their mother's belly and smiled. He walked slowly over to the other fallen wolf and found it still alive, but badly injured and weak. A wolf pup the size of a German Shepherd, growled at him, baring its fangs as it tried to protect its mother.
Bartley kneeled down and held out the back of his hand, which the wolf pup cautiously sniffed his hand, before giving it a lick and allowing Bartley to rub and scratch its head and floppy ears.
When the security team of Marines led by Lieutenant Starven came up, they found Bartley surrounded by several wolf puppies, happily licking and playing with him between two giant wolves watching over them.
Advance chapters are available on Patreon (Book 1 completed)
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Enjoy~
Northern Forest, Hydro Dam Power Station
A small convoy of jeeps rumbled in through the double gates and sentry posts, stopping before a blocky structure sitting next to a roaring man controlled waterfall. A concrete dam had blocked off the original waterfall and water was released by outflow gates which created the waterfalls. The skies were hazy and smelled of burning wood and ashes.
Captain Blake stepped down from one of the jeeps and nodded to Major Frank who was accompanied by Master Sergeant Pike. Both of them were waiting at the entrance of the building for Blake's arrival and saluted Blake as he exited the jeep. "Sir!"
"At ease," Blake replied, "So they are inside?"
"Oh no, Sir," Major Frank replied. "We actually placed them outdoors under a shed, with armed guards, twenty four seven."
"And the Marine who broke regs?" Blake asked again as he followed the two Marines into the building. "What happened actually?"
"Well, the Marine is one of ours," Frank explained, "Seems like he spotted some wolf puppies being carried by the two female wolves and being chased by goblins, he decided to save them instead of shooting them."
"So he managed to save the wolves," Blake stopped and turned to look at the two officers. "What's the issue now?"
"Sir," Pike answered for the Major, "The Marine abandoned his post during a combat situation and also disobeyed a direct order from his commanding officer."
"I see," Blake nodded, "So what are you guys gonna do about it?"
Frank frowned, "I don't really want to give a very harsh punishment, but if I don't, it might give off the impression that we are cuddling our own people and also that abandoning of duty posts and insubordination will not get one into much trouble, which will undermine the officers' authority and also lead to more issues in the future."
"Go by the book then," Blake replied, "We can't show favoritism."
"Sir, insubordination during times of war is a death penalty..." Frank looked at Blake seriously.
"Put him up for court-martial," Blake sighed, "Let the court judge him then."
"Now let's see the wolves," Blake continued walking through the corridors to the elevator that will bring them up to the top side of the dam.
Both the Marines looked at each other and nodded, "Yes, Sir," Frank replied with a heavy heart as he knew that the Marine will get a death penalty.
-----
Goblin Coast, Far Harbour, Special Projects Workshop
"Easy... easy..." Senior Spaceman Mason called out as he stood under a newly developed inline four engine that was secured to chains from the workshop roof crane. "Lower it slowly..."
He held on to the side of the brand new engine and with the help of another engineer, they carefully slot it into place in the hull of the sleek looking experimental speed boat built by the ship carpenter Amar and a team of engineers and craftsmen.
The next hour was spent carefully connecting the drive shafts, cranks, chains, and bolting the engine into place. The experiment speed boat had a 'V' shaped bow, sharp lines and a simple wheelhouse. It was 10 meters long, and four meters wide, powered by a four cylinder water cooled inline piston engine of 102 horsepower. After several model kit sized prototypes, they finally built a smaller scaled working prototype to test before they start working on the actual design.
The whole team double checked the motorboat to ensure every bolt, nut, and screws was properly tightened and in place before they pushed out the sliding doors that led out to sea. A sluice gate was opened and seawater started to flood the dry dock of the experimental motorboat.
As the water started flooding the dock, the motorboat gently floated up on the surface of the water and the team of amateur shipwrights cheered. "Let's start the engine and test out our new toy!" Mason yelled excitedly. Even Amar was excited as he stood on the side watching the boat he helped design and built.
Mason grabbed a bright yellow personnel flotation device and tossed it over to Amar, "Come on! Let's go for a test drive!"
Amar eagerly wore the life vest with the help of one of the hooman engineers and they all climbed aboard the motorboat. Mason turned the ignition and the engine roared slowly to life, sending out a small cloud of grey smoke from its exhaust. "Woooo!"
The rest of the team removed the lines from the moorings and Mason gently gave power to the boat, easing it out of the workshop. As it appeared out of the workshop and into the sun, the workers around Far Harbor stopped and stared, wondering what kind of boat is that.
"Engine temperature looks good, just as we trial ran them before!" One of the engineering guys on board called out.
"Great, let's clear the stone pier and see what this baby can do!" Mason grinned, and pushed the throttle up, sending the motor craft charging through the waves. "Oh my god, this is awesome!"
The sea wind and spray hit them as they bounced across the waves, running at over 20 knots per hour. Amar gripped the hand rails of the motorboat and started laughing wildly, "This is amazing, I never gone so fast before in the sea! Amazing!"
The motorboat hit a surging wave and bounced up, sending whitish 'V' shaped waves out. Mason drove the motorboat around the pier, charging pass The Floating Wreck still moored at the pier and showing off his boat. Soon the pier was lined up with workers and staff as they "Oooh and Ahh" at the trials Mason was putting the boat through.
After an hour of playing around with the motor craft, they finally happily returned to the workshop leaving the cheering crowd behind.
-----
Northern Forest, Hydro Dam Power Station
Blake leaned over the railing and observed the two giant wolves licking their pups from the roof of the Dam. "So how aggressive are they?"
"Well, as long you don't try to take their kids away," Pike replied, "They seem okay so far with us next to them."
"What happened exactly?" Blake asked as he watched one of the pups trying to snuggle up to its mother but failed and did a cute tumbling cartwheel instead.
"We think that due to the forest fire, they were trying to escape from it," Frank said, "And we think almost all the monsters were driven away from the forest. And these two were carrying their kids with them, so the rest of monsters most probably perceived the puppies as an easy meal."
"So what are we gonna do with them, Sir?" Pike asked as he frowned. "We don't know if we can train them to be mounts or even work animals, provided if they are willing to listen to us."
"Could we make them our next best friend like dogs?" Blake asked. "The Orcs do use them as mounts."
"Not sure, but I did send out a message to all the Orcs in the Marines," Pike said, "see if any Orcs have any knowledge of rearing a giant wolf."
Blake nodded, "Let's go closer." And they climbed down the stairs and walked towards the vehicle shed which they gave the wolves to use.
As Blake and his party approached the shed, both the wolves sat up and looked at them walking over with cautious and curious eyes but they did not growl nor any other signs of aggression.
Blake stopped before the nearest wolf and saw the streaks of dirt and blood on its matted fur. "Are they provided with medical care and adequate food and water?"
"Food and water yes," Pike scratched his head, "Medical? We don't have veterinaries here."
Blake turned and looked at Pike, "We don't? How about those looking after the Muffalos or Peco pecos?"
"Well, we are not sure if they are willing to even come close to a giant wolf," Pike replied, "and the scent of the wolves might spook the animals when they return. Plus the wolves don't allow us to touch them. We have tried, trust us."
"How about that Marine who got close to them?" Blake asked.
"Sir, he's placed in confinement now," Pike replied. "In one of the staff rooms here."
"Well, bring him here and see if he can do some good," Blake ordered.
"Yes, Sir!" Pike turned away and spoke into his communicator while Blake turned and watched the puppies play, the corner of his mouth lifting up.
Not long, a large build male accompanied by a trio of Marines arrived. They saluted the Major and Blake, "Sir! The prisoner is here, sir!"
"Remove the restrains," Blake nodded towards the handcuffs.
"Yes, sir!" The Marine escorts quickly removed Bartley's handcuffs, which Bartley rubbed his sore wrists once they were removed.
"Corporal Bartley, front and center!" Pike roared.
Bartley quickly marched up and stood in parade attention before Blake, "Corporal Bartley reporting, Sir!"
"Corporal, I heard the wolves are friendly with you," Blake asked, "Is that correct?"
"Sir, Yes, sir!" Bartley replied in a serious manner.
"Ok, Corporal, I got a job for you, I heard that the wolves only allows you to get close to them," Blake gestured at the wolves who were all looking at them with curious expressions, "I'm putting you in charge of looking after them. You will be let out from your confinement once per day to look after them, after which you will be returned to your cell."
"Corporal, while you did a good deed here, but you disobey direct orders and even abandoned your post which is a serious offense in times of war," Blake said, "Redeem yourself with hard work, and we will see what we can do about your court-martial."
"Sir! Thank you, Sir!" Bartley replied without a change of expression.
"Alright, show me what you can do!" Blake nodded, "Clean them up, and see if you patch them up as well."
Bartley walked up to the wolves who licked and poke their noses against him, allowing him to touch their fur and pat them. "Sir, I will need some brushes, a first aid kit and eh, buckets?"
Blake turned to Pike and nodded, who started talking into his communicator again. Blake gestured to Frank and they walked to the side away from hearing of the rest.
"Well, if we can tame these wolves, I think we can sorta have some kind of wolf cavalry?" Blake suggested. "Mobile infantry tactics and all."
"Wolf cavalry?" Frank repeated and laughed, "Well, it will be better if we had bears..."
-----
Northern Forest
A plume of flames rose up from the center of a massive ash field. The red dragon yawned and puffed out another plume of flames from its nostrils while scratching its tummy. It looked around in surprise at the land around it, unable to recall why the lush forest had instead turned into a land of scorched earth.
Its tummy rumbled in hunger and it looked around, trying to see if it can spot some prey, but all it saw was just scorched land and blackened trees stumps. Giving a huge sigh, it flapped its wings and rose into the air, and started looking around to see if it can find something big and yummy to cook.
As it rose up higher, it saw the area around was all burnt land, and flames and smoke were even seen in the forest all around it. It scratched its head in embarrassment as it finally realized that the cause of the destroyed land was caused by it.
Oh well, it thought to itself, nature will always find a way to grow back and it flapped its wings lazily, catching the heat air draft coming from the forest fire and started gliding in a circular motion as it climbed higher and higher into the air before flying away from the scorched land and headed for the distance blue-green forest that has not been affected by the forest fire yet.
Advance chapters are available on Patreon (Book 1 Completed)
https://www.patreon.com/neobear
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Talking about wolf whisperer... Cesar Milan is in Singapore now~
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