Chapter 5 - Fenrir Snow - Allies
November 16, 3040 7:00 PM
I got the call last night from the Brotherhood of Wolves about a special assignment they wanted me to undertake. They said that a mission had come up in Las Vegas and a tracker was needed. Wolves are natural trailers, and amongst them, I am the best. The Brotherhood can vouch for that.
Naturally, I accepted their mission, no questions asked. I come from a long line of loyal soldiers. The Snows have militaristic prestige written all over their names. I would do anything my fellow wolves ask me, especially the high council in the Brotherhood. I'm battle tested due to my service. Unlike humans or pigs or any other animal, I am not greedy. I do it simply because my kind asks me to.
This mission is organized by the humans, which initially caused some hesitation. I'm not fond of their kind, but the Brotherhood needed someone who can speak human. I don't need to rely on those stupid translation boxes. A computer doesn't do my speaking for me, I do.
They allowed me to rest for the night before I journeyed off, but I couldn't get any sleep. I hate Las Vegas, it is human territory. Most of North America is, only the coldest of North America is our territory, the Wolf's Den as the humans call it. They gave us that wasteland when the negotiations happened hundreds of years ago.
Just the mere thought of being around so many of them makes me nervous. I have never trusted them and I know of their history with wolves. Before the Event, wolves were their sport. We, the natural hunters of the wilderness, were reduced to dodging their weapons. Many of us were pushed out of our homes, brought to near extinction. And for what? To make them pretty coats? To be targets in their games? I would hardly consider the slaughter of my brothers a game. They could do what they wanted because they had weapons we couldn't compete with. First, it was bow and arrow and then it was guns. We never stood a chance against them.
I still don't understand why after the Event, when the playing field became even, we remain underneath them. We had formed our society, formed our civilization, all within a few hundred years. Their technological development hit a brick wall. Despite all these handicaps, humans still dominate society, even today. We have our own guns now, but we still do not dare to strike back at the real alpha in this world. It's a numbers game. There are far too many humans for us to fight. Even if all the intelligent animals banded together, we still wouldn't be able to take them on.
They spent century after century killing and reducing the numbers while multiplying. And then, by their own foolishness, they gave us the gift of intelligence. But even then, our numbers had dwindled so much that we still cannot fight back. There are only millions of us, while there are billions of them. I guess that was their back up plan. As long as they didn't kill each other off, they would still rule the land.
It's not right. We are superior to them in so many ways. We're faster than them, stronger than them, more durable than them. They cannot fly on their own, they can't swim without their precious machines. They can barely out run the slowest of winds. The only thing they had to their advantage was their brain, but even that isn't much of an edge anymore. No, it's because of their numbers. It's the only advantage they have.
We should be the rulers of this world, not them.
But I didn't come to Las Vegas to spew my anti-human ideology. I came here for a mission and I intend to serve as best as I can.
I'm currently sitting in a large conference room in the local United Species Alliance headquarters in Las Vegas. The escort picked me up from the teleportation station and brought me straight here. He is a rookie human agent for the United Species Alliance, probably some gopher that gets stuck with all the remedial tasks. He tried to make small chatter with me, but I pretended that I didn't speak human, so he quickly shut up.
I learned how to speak human during basic training in the Brotherhood's Academy. It's a tricky language for wolves to pick up, as our physiology prevents us from making certain sounds, but I try to cover my wolf accent as best as I can. The Brotherhood tells me that it is barely noticeable, yet sometimes I tend to stumble on 'b' sounds here and there. Other animals say I sound like I'm growling, but that is not my intention.
I'm glad that humans only speak one language. I heard long before the Event, humans used to have hundreds of languages among them. Then, they started to unify it into one universal language to make communication easier. Thank goodness.
I was briefed earlier about the mission from my own wolf superior, so I didn't have to be briefed by the human superior agent. It's a case of some renegade human group deciding to play around with genetics, again. But now I and a group of other animals are stuck cleaning up their mess. Typical. Just like a careless human, they never learn their lesson the first time. Though I should be grateful to the first time, I wouldn't be standing where I am today if they hadn't.
These things are half human, half something else. I will probably be the primary tracker on this team, meaning I will be the one responsible for catching their scent and hunting them down. There is a dog on this team as well, but their skills are weak compared to us wolves. They have to rely on their toys. They're only here because they're good at sucking up to humans. Dogs have spent their existence being pets. The funny thing is even after the Event, when they were free to do as they pleased, they still play second fiddle to humans in their society. They support the humans any way they can. They are their waiters, their cleaners, their butlers, their servants. They do have their own government, the High Dog Council, but they always vote with the Human Council in the United Species Alliance. It's pathetic. They may not be on a leash physically anymore, but humans hold a metaphorical one over them.
The room is filled with my other team members. First is the aforementioned dog. I do not know my dog breeds that well, but judging from his large size and golden yellow coat, he is a Labrador. Like many other Labs I've seen, he looks big, friendly, and dumb. He sits on the floor with a pleasant demeanor. He has a black Dog Alliance uniform on, which is the High Dog Council's police force. It covers his body and legs, but leaves his paws exposed. It's made out of a strilium high fiber polyester synthetic. I've been told that it is light and can nullify most small energy projectiles. It's human technology, so I know it's top notch stuff. Humans were always good with their tech, and they share it with their closest animal allies.
I, on the other hand, am wearing my standard issue reflector uniform, black in color. It's not as high quality stuff as the strilium, and it doesn't nullify energy projectiles, it just deflects them. But it's wolf technology and I'm fine with that. There isn't much human tech outfitted for wolves anyways. The humans don't think there's a market for their goods in the Wolf's Den. I'd say that's a true statement, we don't want their overpriced wares.
The uniform is also extremely light. My fur had already been reinforced with wolfspray, a high aerosol alloy that strengthens my fur's durability. It's standard for any member of the wolf military to go through this procedure. We already have a natural coat, so why not reinforce it with something resilient?
Sitting across from me is a gorilla. His kind I can respect. They share roots with the humans, but unlike the dog, they have carved out their own niche instead of being servants and second tier citizens. Together, them and animals like them such as chimps, along with the lions, were able to claim the southern parts of Africa as their own. The humans gave them some land down there as part of the negotiation, but it wasn't enough. Thus, the rebellion against the humans in Africa started, and the gorillas were highly adaptable. They already had the physiology similar to humans, so retrofitting human weapons and equipment for their own needs was a piece of cake. Within twenty years, their alliance with the lions helped them push most humans out of South Africa. Naturally, once the struggle was over, their agreement was broken and the great war between the gorillas and lions still rages on today.
I'm guessing eradic
ating these halfkinds was so important that the Gorilla Government decided to send one of their own to help out.
Most of the intelligent species have already claimed certain areas of the world to call their home. We wolves occupy Northern Canada, dogs are spread out across the world, sharing whatever territory they live in with humans, the pigs have Australia, and countless other animals claim other parts of planet Earth. It's all chump change compared to how much the humans still have.
The weird thing I find in all of this is that despite all these new territories, we still call them by their human names. Our territory is called the Wolf's Den, but it's an unofficial name. The official name is still Northern Canada. The pig's territory doesn't even have an unofficial name, it's still referred to the human name Australia. The city names haven't even changed. I hear stories that long ago, when humans ruled the world, when settlers came to the United States, they used names given by the natives there. I suppose the same thing has happened, but out of convenience. We already know Canada as Canada, so why change it?
I see it as a subtle reminder that humans are still the principal species, that we have to speak their language, use the names given by them. Even though they don't own the lands as they used to, they still have that level of control.
The battles on Earth may have died down, but the real battle has only begun with the terraformed Moon still in its current state. Politically, it's a mess. There have already been some colonies set up by different animals, but colonies aren't a big deal. Territories will cause conflict, large designations of land assigned to different species. We've only started to flesh out what that might look like. When animals start stepping over their boundaries there, claim this territory over that one, a new war is going to be at hand.
I continue to observe my peers. There's an elephant standing in the corner of the room. I'm actually surprised he is here. I've never met an elephant before, as their territory is mostly in parts of Asia. From what I hear, elephants are quite peaceful. But I also hear in battle, they are durable, that their tech makes use of their large size and powerful frame. The elephant I see is quite gargantuan and he already has some armor on, a standard heavy padded plasma absorber that all members of the Elephant Force get issued. It's made to take heavy fire, especially heat. I suppose he'll be useful in his physical durability alone. Still, given their soft reputation, the United Species Alliance could have sent a better tank, such as a rhino. But perhaps I'm stereotyping.
Last but not least, I see the pig. If there's any other species I distrust more than humans, the pig would be it. Even before the Event, their reputation among humans was that of greed and it is still well deserved today. Their kind has been known to be hard negotiators and gluttons for resources. They take whatever they can from whomever they can and refuse to broker alliances for what they collect. The whole government they have set up in Australia is based on the principal of greed, an every pig for themselves mentality. It is the opposite of what I was raised to believe. I was taught to stick to the pack, to fight not only for yourself, but for each other.
I am jumping to conclusions. I haven't talked to this pig yet. Perhaps my prejudice is getting the better of me.
Through their trading with the humans, pigs have gotten decent at gaining and developing new tech. It shows through this one's uniform. He's wearing a suit made of the same strilium the dog is wearing.
This is the team that I've been assigned to work with, handpicked by the United Species Alliance, a group consisting of the leaders of all intelligent species. They could've sent others, a different combination of species and personalities, but they picked us. And now we wait for our human commander. He's the leader not because of his leadership skills, but because this is a mission spearheaded by the Human Council. I will never consider a human my leader.
Suddenly, two humans walk in. One is a tall, portly man with a mustache, Agent Leons. I had heard about him for the first time when I was briefed earlier and I already don't like him. He seems like a jerk. The other is a leaner, more well-toned man that I have never met nor seen. He has a shaved head and strong profile. His jaw is square but his head is appropriate for his average height. He looks young. Judging by his appearance, he is probably in his fifties.
"This is the team," Agent Leons says to the younger man. "All six of you were picked by your respective councils and governments to undergo this mission, approved by the United Species Alliance. Consider yourself lucky, for you are the elite not only of your kind, but of most animals out there today. You've all probably seen me in your briefings, but you haven't met this man. His name is Simon Trevor, he'll be heading this mission. He's a specialist in obtaining illegal contraband and weapons. Simon, meet your team."
"Hi, I'm looking forward to working with all of you," he then turns to the dog. "Good to see you Apollo. When was the last time we caught up?"
"A month ago?" the dog replies.
"That long? Well, drinks will be on me after we're done with this."
"Oh, so you two know each other?" Agent Leons asks.
"Yes, Simon and I worked together hunting down some illegal drug runners a few years ago. We've been keeping in contact since," the dog replies.
"I would consider Apollo one of my combat buddies."
"That's good!" Agent Leons says enthusiastically, but I can sense his bullshit a mile away. "Always nice to have friends on the same team. Makes cooperation a lot easier."
The dog is sucking up to the human. Typical.
"Well," Agent Leons says, "since you spoke first, how about you introduce yourself first. We'll all go around in a circle and give our helloes."
"No problem," the dog says. "I'm Apollo Bradley. Like Simon, I'm a specialist in tracking and finding illegal contraband. I'm thirty four years old and I've been with the Dog Alliance for about seven years."
"Apollo here is shy," Simon says, "he's a rising star over there."
I'm surprised at how young the dog is. For a task like this, I would imagine that his superiors would have sent someone much older, maybe in their fifties. Most every intelligent species' lifespans have been greatly bolstered since we became aware.
The gorilla speaks next. "Colbo Zuma. I'm a heavy arms specialist and I've served a few tours in the Gorilla Lion Conflict. I've also done some secret operative work for the Gorilla Government. Classified, naturally."
"Of course," Agent Leons says.
"Erawan Bornoa, member of the Royal Elephant Service."
That is why the United Species Alliance chose this elephant. The Royal Elephant Service is the elephant's secret service group, protecting the leaders of their government. He's probably the highest decorated member of this team.
That is all Erawan decides to say, and that is all he needs to say.
"I'm Borton Freely," the pig says. "I'm also a tracker, like Apollo, but I specialize in the tracking of currency. I usually handle covert operations involving money laundering."
Borton seems like a questionable choice on this team. He can find things, like me, Apollo, and Simon, but his specialization is currency? C'mon. He probably got assigned to this mission because of politics.
It is my turn to speak. "I'm Fenrir Snow, member of the Wolf's Den Task Force. Like some of the others, I'm a tracker, but I specifically hunt wanted criminals. As you know, the Task Force has a reputation for finding the toughest escapees and threats to our society of wolves. I can't go into the details of my missions, though, they're classified."
I shoot Colbo a wink. He responds with a smug smile. Asshole.
"Great, now that we got all our introductions out of the way, we can start with the mission," Agent Leons says. "You've been briefed. We suspect that the halfkinds are already on the move, but still in Primm, so we'll have to come up with our own strategy to hunt and find them. Your orders are to kill. We'll gather in the war room so you can get your gear and work on your plan of attack. Follo
w me."
I am uncomfortable with being a hitman for these humans, but if the Brotherhood deems this mission is worthy, then I will do it for them. When the hour comes and I stand face to face with a halfkind, I will be ready to pull the trigger. The only thing I will think is that I served my wolves well and nothing more.