So you think you've seen humans mad before? Heh. Pour us another drink recruit, and listen close to an old spear-leader.

Ahh, that's the good stuff. You've probably seen an angry human before. Drill Master 'Nasty', going by the base you came from. Yeah, I know old man Kong. He never gets mad. He gets loud, drives you hard enough to break so he can build you back they way you need to be to live out here on the front.

Take a sip, It'll help with the shaking. Local rotgut, but we're not back in the capital now are we?

What's that, human shock-troops? Yeah, they get angry sometimes. Enemy drops one or three in a break-through. They get hot-rage, start flinging fire and fury. We call that a burn-in. Give the survivors a day or three to mourn their dead, leave 'em alone until they come home.

See the quiet one in the corner? He's a Lone Wolf, last man left in his squad after a burn-in went wrong.

Drink some more, and fill us back up again. You look like you could use it.

Yeah, a burn-in went wrong. They kicked down the door and went in, smooth as can be. 'Cept it wasn't a half-sleeping supply base. It was a Muster Ground on full alert. Lone Wolf there was the last one standing when the embers finally went out. They burned the whole place to the ground. Forty-to-one odds, and Lone Wolf still comes back.

Scared huh? That's fine. I was too.

Why's he drinking alone? Because he went past hot-rage, and he's drinking to forget.

What happens when a Human goes past hot-rage? Vdekje happens.

A mana-crystal detonation? So that's what the official reports said. I wondered how they'd spin it. Nah, Lone Wolf happened.

What'd he do? He doesn't say, but I had the same question a while back. So I stuck my nose in. He went missing after the burn-in went wrong, took a knife and some food. We figured he'd be back after he had cooled down some. Three weeks later, he comes back in, looking all worn out, blood everywhere. Whatever report he made is still sealed, but I was on the team that traced his trail. Guess the higher ups wanted confirmation.

Pour us another, and keep the bottle this time. You're going to want it. We found Vdekje, right where Lone Wolf said it was. Ice everywhere, frozen blood, frozen bodies. Knife-work, all of it. Took his time on some of them.

Yeah, Ice. Even here, even in this overheated tropical hell-hole. Two weeks after the last of them died. Lone Wolf hasn't stopped drinking since. Neither have I.