Warslave

Chapter 3: Preparations

Viper stopped, looking at the old Warslave.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?"

"Just talk to him."

"... Have you talked to anyone else about this?"

"Not yet. You and Wolf first, the rest will either fall in line, or at least not get in the way."

"Give him time, he'll come around on his own."

Greyhound shook his head.

"Project's finished. They have a mass producible product, with all the useful telepathic resonances they could want. Sure, the commercial line is weaker than us, but can we fight three of them each? We'll need to strike before Warslaves become widespread, or we risk a prolonged war."

"We'll manage."

Wolf

"Gather round, children. I have a few words for the lot of you."

Wolf hadn't yelled, but everyone in the training hall had heard him either way, no matter how noisy their training. It took no time for them to gather around their commander, each of them waiting for what he had to say, though not all of them were as interested as others.

"Viper and I are going to be deployed again-"

Lion almost stumbled over his words.

"But-... but you just got back!"

"Thank you, I am fully aware of that. Now if you've nothing else to add, I will continue."

"Oh... sorry. Didn't mean to say that out loud."

"We'll be out for an indetermined amiunt of time, given that we are going to have to play bodyguards for a poli-"

Wildcat burst out in laughter, earning him several annoyed looks, which he ignored.

"How dead do they want the guy?"

"Are you done?"

"Sorry, I just... you? Playing a bodyguard? I have to see that."

"Right, if you're done with your little outburst, I can continue. I would appreciate it if I could finish without being interrupted after every sentence."

Caracal saw her chance as soon as he said that.

"Well, we can't promise anything."

"Okay, I want everyone to take their right hand and place it over their mouths. Now if you can all just shut the fuck up, I can continue. During our absence, Greyhound and Scorpion are in charge-"

"Yes sir, won't let you down."

"Scorpion, hand over mouth, now-... wait: sir really?"

She'd already placed her hand over her mouth, but even then Wolf could tell she was grinning as she nodded her head enthusiastically. He just decided to ignore it for now.

"Stormcrow, Swallow, I would have liked to oversee your initial training myself for a while, to see how far along you are at this point. Greyhound will take up your training as he normally would, but I also want Dragon and Bullshark to keep an eye on you two."

Both of the older Warslaves nodded at their commander, not taking their hand away from their mouth.

"Fox, I wanna talk to you in private once everyone goes back to training. Now, to close off: everyone make sure you behave. I don't want to hear anything about bad behaviour. Stick to your routines and execute your missions as they come up. That's all."