“And when evil rears its ugly head…” Mirko Jovi? roared as he jumped bare-chested onto a table and raised a bottle.

  “We’ll ram a saber straight through its ass!” the gatheried.

  “Damn right we will! Happy winter, you bastards, and live long!” Mirko poured the vodka down his throat, not g about a snack.

  Miners, workers, citizens, off-duty soldiers, and even several poli joiheir voices to his and raised their toasts, hugging each other in a half-druupor. Their numbers cramped the spacious bar; streams of smoke gathered in a small cloud above their heads, hiding the ceiling; and pleasant try music surged from the dynamics, shaking the windows. Mirko spotted sergeant ?ime ?tefan?i? and Kit dang on a pool table o more couples and raised his bottle to them, both ds and ssies alike. Let there be more kids year!

  Winter! Who didn’t love this season in the Wastes? It was the time when living mountains moved underh the sea of sand, hundred-meter-long is known as long sand reapers. They migrated to the Ravaged Lands to mate. These titanic creatures showed little for humans; even if they happened upon a random group of sgers in a desert, a sand reaper rarely attacked, as it could not replenish the nutrients it would lose during movement to e even a hundred humans.

  But their passing created amazing sery! Rolling walls of sand, like waters in dried-up os, passed toward the horizon, bringing to the surface the wonders hidden in the depths. Cadavers of lesser predators whose armor was as tough as a battle suit and whose bdes could sever a limb at a touch. Submerged boratories and excavated bunkers. Bodies of a soldiers, some still perfectly preserved by their life systems.

  But none of it mattered to Mirko. He loved winter for its tranquility, for it was a time when people didn’t worry about hiding sugar in bunkers, and sweet treats and drinks were onp the streets. He enjoyed filming the swimming titans and sending these videos to his wide-eyed pearl in the Core Lands.

  “Sarge,” ?ime’s voiapped him from the blissful enjoyment, and Mirko noticed Lieutenant Veronika Eenpalu and a group of soldiers waiting outside the entrahe woman wore a bck officer’s coat over a standard exoskeleton suit, and a broriangle marking her rank was clear of any dust. Despite the tapestry of scars c much of her head, Mirko sidered her pretty. The cowl of her coat left her eyes and upper part of the face exposed, and she frowned her nose in disgust at the debauchery and beed him.

  “Yes, sir!” Mirko saluted to ?ime’s groan. Veronika teically outrahem both, but the silver stars marking them as New Breeds made the situation a bit more plicated. ?ime kissed Kit o time and followed the older New Breed, pulling on the heat-prote suit. Kit hurried after him, ging into her cheaper citizen’s model, as Mirko stepped outside and breathed i air.

  By the P, he enjoyed his home! Their settlement had growhe past decade, eventually being a proper small town. During the day, citizens worked in the mio the west or inside factories, rarely poking their noses outside to avoid the risk of heat stroke. The you children, infants and such, slept the day in the unal schools, while the older oudied. The heat here was disgusting—not the kind that dried out your body from the excess water, but the kind that kept you wet all the time unless you wore a special suit. Two, three hours outdoors, and even an adult would find himself dehydrated and stumble and fall to his death.

  At night, when the miners returned from work, the town came alive. Families walked their children along freshly repaired paved roads. These roads were as much a sign of luxury as they were a y. Subterraneaors would often try to snat unsuspeg victim, and a solid yer of stone provided ample warning. Every single person, including children, knew how to fire basic firearms, but only the army and police had enough firepower to take down a creature.

  Children pyed in the pyground or raced up and down the road, and Mirko chuckled, evading a kid driving a scooter. His hand moved as fast as an ioid warrior’s bde, pulling the girl’s hood over her head. Running around in a hood sucks and water was no longer a problem, but there was no reason not to let the suit’s system work. Its fabric soaked up any sweat or urine and recycled it into drinkable water, which was ter stored for emergencies. At least they hadn’t had to drink it in a decade, and used it to water the greenery.

  Ecological Habitat 647, as Captain Ivar Murzaliev , or Just Peachy, as everyone else called it, had a single greenhouse produg fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, and potatoes to meet the popution’s needs. Iween every square living apartments, edging the pyground, stood tall cactuses, specially geically tailored pnts that could thrive in this dry nd and provide fresh oxygen to the setters.

  Kids took a liking to them, using their sharp needles for the initiation ritual to get a bright color off the green shapes, and soldiers had t the rascals home so they could taste a parental belt and shake these foolish delusions from their minds. Their parents didn’t work their asses off to build this little sanctuary in a cruel world so that their offspring would be covered in scars, and if they had to beat that wisdom into them, then by the Phey did so.

  Most of the popution worked in the mines, and this is where Mirko spent his youth. Trucks hauled precious ore excavated by miners, and at night, a sed shift used a special anti-radiation solution to deihe opeunnels so the workers could work safely in the m. The youngster dropped this job at the first opportunity. Sure, only four people got radiation poisoning a bald st year, but no hazmat suit provided plete prote, especially when human factors were involved. An act involving a suit tearing itself against a rusty spike or a clumsy coworker could result in receiving an uhy dose of radiation.

  Such was the life in Just Peachy, and the green-eyed, pale-skinned, and well-built Mirko loved every sed of it, even when he had to keep immigrants like ?ime and Kit out of trouble with the w. The dumb dumbs still couldn’t get it into their heads that the Recmation Army had a set age of sent, and it wasn’t ten like the untrolble part of the Wastes. Is it really that hard to wait until you turn een? The rules are written iown’s hall, for the P’s sake, and the newly opeV station did its best to keep the citizens informed.

  “You reek of alcohol,” Veronika stated.

  “Apologies, ma’am! Off duty, ma’am!” Mirko and ?ime saluted, swaying on their feet.

  They were the regurs, a part of the military created by Wyrm Lord to take the burden off the Third Army. Although they cked the necessary equipment to participate in the war, their training and numbers ehem to assist the poli keeping the pea the regions. Uhe leadership of Captain Murzaliev, the infamous Blue Wyrm, their anized forces served in every major settlement. In Just Peachy, they were responsible for maintaining the minefield around the town, manning the walls and four towers, keeping the mines operating, and proteg the citizens. The w was rough here, and Mirko had to end more than one life of some psycho who tried to stir problems. In cases of a full-scale raid, a unication tower positioned on the south side of the settlement was used to call upon Warlord Fatima and her pack for help.

  “A patrol unit took a detour.” Veronika’s pale eyes locked with his. “They cimed a sudden avanche, but the video feed showed them filming the Third Army.”

  “Sorry, ma’am!” Mirko rubbed the back of his head. “Not every day aire army passes us by, and I thought it’d lift the people’s spirits if they saw our heroes ing home.”

  “And no doubt yirl would like the footage too, and if some reporters pay for it, then it is eveer,” Veronika said. “Mirko, I have nothing against you earning tokens on the side. But the iion is to arrive overmorrow. All of us o be in top shape.”

  “We’ll be sober; I swear, lieutenant!” ?ime stood at attention.

  “It’s not a question of sobriety, sergeant,” the lieutenant sighed and wiped the sweat from her tanned nose. “Warlord Fatima and her pack are no longer in charge of proteg this area.”

  “Then it is true?” Mirko’s shoulders slumped. “The girls are leaving?”

  “Already left. Fatima expressed her for our well-being two ho, and the entire pack is en route to their vilges.”

  All regurs, regardless of their stationing, shared a on game. The Wolfkins, the fierce but trusted and heroic guardians of pea the Wastes, rarely visited the humans duriime, and each such visit was an exquisite curiosity. Mirko, along with many others, attempted to steal a kiss from one of their female scouts or wolf hags. Males didn’t t, much to the seething disappoi of the female regurs. It was too easy; what man would turn down an invitation to kiss a ssie for free? The reverse was harder, and the prize money accumuted over the years reached an impressive sum.

  No one had cimed it yet, and Mirko loathed missing out on a ce. That, and he slept better when howls pierced the night.

  “So we’ll be protected by the Sed Army now?” Kit asked, and the lieutenant nodded, not deeming it worthwhile to speak to the girl. “Great! Anyone know if they have snake boys among their ranks? You know, the hairy Ravager has wolf girls, and the serpentine Devourer must have snake boys, right? It, like, makes sense,” she teased the twitg ?ime.

  “Kit, speak about the champions with proper respect,” Veronika said in a strained voice. “This is no ughing matter, soldiers,” she told the grinning men. “We are alone for two days. Get it into your heads. Yes, yes, there is zero ce of aag from the east, where the voy is moving now. But it is our responsibility, our sacred duty, to be on high alert. We owe that much to Just Peachy and its citizens, unless you want to have your eyes torn out and be hanged on Captain Murzaliev’s orders.”

  “What is required of us?” Mirko asked, s up.

  Dammit, he hadn’t sidered it! Yeah, the Blue Wyrm won’t touch him or ?ime. The wyrm hoarded over his New Breeds and those he deemed smart among the Normies, punishing only serious crimes. But if even half of the rumors that spoke about the captairue, he may very well dispose of the patrol group, and Mirko would rather die thahis happen. The Blue Wyrm’s legendary ability to achieve results paled pared to his ruthless vindictiveness. If he decides the troopers had made the Third Army look bad in the eyes of the Sed… This is why the lieutenant came here—to beat the dao her people into his stupid head.

  “Remain vigint until the transition of defenders is pleted.” The lieutenant gred at his casual dress. “I have no doubt that the Sed have their own champions just as worthy as the Third, but I prefer not to take any ces until they arrive. I pn to remove the off-duty time for both officers and soldiers and would like your support, sir.”

  “You have it, ma’am.” Mirko nodded eagerly, zipping up his jacket and trating on flushing the alcohol from his veins. Ripples ran through ?ime’s skin and his bck eyes focused, banishing the drunken haze. He kissed Kit and put on his cap, saluting in readio accept any assig.

  “Good. Thirty hours of unity servi the sewers for your stunt with the patrol, sergeant. Oversee it after the ceremony of transition, corporal,” Veronika told her sed-in-and, and the offiervously added this to her terminal. “Now, get your people sorted out and…”

  An explosion of sand stopped her words as a row of mines outside of the settlement exploded almost simultaneously. The billowing dust hit the faces of the soldiers on the wall. The officers had already barked orders to activate searchlights and fire mortars into the area, but it was too te.

  Something pierced a cloud in the sky, tearing it in two and impaling the unication tower. Mirko failed to spot who fired at them; the projectile’s supersonic speed exceeded that of any bullet, and a tearing scream of torn space followed in its wake as the tower built of solid reinforced crete fell to the side. This strange shot took out several rey arrays a a gaping hole, pletely destroying the structural iy and causing the eructure to colpse us ow. The three soldiers inside never had a ce.

  “Danger!” Mirko shouted at the top of his lungs as the wall shook and crimson explosions blossomed on top of it, knog soldiers to the ground along with ks of stone. He grabbed a portable visor from his pocket and pced it over his left eye, activating the HUD to see through the soldiers’ cameras. “Get the citizens into the bunker! Call for the Third’s aid!” He pushed Veronika’s sed-in-and over to Kit so they could attempt a swift evacuation, while Veronika calmly shouted orders, direg the regurs to their defensive positions and demanding any visual tact with the enemy.

  “Rapidly moving eng...” A fist-sized hole appeared in a parapet o the speaking soldier, and he died, half his head missing.

  His rade, a terrified woman who had been filming this murder, gasped as she peeked over the parapet wall, no longer worried about her safety. Her leransmitted the rapidly approag engines, and then a fsh from one of them struck her in the chest, pierg armor and bone alike, and her broken body stumbled off the wall. Less than a sed ter, this entire part of the parapet disappeared, broken into pieces by the sudden starlight. The attackers fired madly, not serving their ammunition; their projectiles were strange energy that traveled in the form of pulsating, bright orbs.

  ?ime cpped his hands together, and his muscles ballooearing through his clothes. His hair disappeared, giving way to throbbing, fat tentacles ending in sharp talons. The skin at the base of the back of his neck erupted, releasing even more murderous appehe man reached three meters; his tanned skin took on a dark blue hue, growing thick with muscle; a rough hide repced the skin; and the genitals were sucked into his body. ?ime screamed once, when his knees shattered into tless pieces and reassembled themselves into reverse-jointed legs. His skull stretched forward, bones snapping, breaking, and reassembling as the sergeant closed and then opened his new jaws, testing the mobility of his three-fingered palms. The transformed human lu a building, reag the top of a six-story apartment building in a single leap, and charged forward, stig to the rooftops so as not to crush into a civilian.

  Air gathered around Mirko, creating a co, aepped up to a frightened child, grabbing him by the shoulder just in time to spread the effe him as a shell them from above. This projectile Mirko saw, and he closed the air currents around it, creating an impregnable wall of pure molecules of air in its path. The air wall endured, and the projectile exploded ihe tained pocket created by his power. The sealed shockwave died, sparing the lives of those nearby.

  Artillery and an unknown number of attackers. Mirko tossed the boy to Kit and hovered in the air, flying to the burniion of the wall and hearing more explosions hitting the other towers. The anization of this attack was extremely well pnned, executed with exceptional skill, and cided with the very moment Just Peachy found itself without prote. A betrayal? Had someone sold information to the svers? No, it couldn’t be, no idiot would do that. Even ign Captain Murzaliev’s vengeful spite, no one in their right mind would colborate with the barbarians, and madme a threat because they’re incapable of strategizing...

  The explosion, which killed a family as they attempted to charge into a building, interrupted his thoughts. A random shell fttehe family of five as they ehe doorway. He’ll think about who, why, and the rest ter.

  Mirko’s limbs burst, shredding flesh that vanished from sight, merging with the surrounding oxygen. His jacket and pants slipped off, his hair turned into a shroud of mist, and his eyes fshed blue, two pieces of ephemeral ice trapped in the eye sockets of the misty skeleton. His belt also hit the ground, but it was okay; his intangible, ghostly arms wielded far greater ons than any pistol or knife. He no longer o breathe; he was the air itself, and his translut, naked body darkerying to create lightning in vain. That, too, was fine; his power provided limited trol over the element, and it had taken Mirko years to learn how to see colors and hear in this state.

  It was time to sughter until there was no o standing but his side.