V01 - Chapter 11 RM

                                    

                                          
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--- Fort Alnus, outer perimeter --- 
May 4th, 2025

Private First-Class Alicia Moore is walking along with Corporal Andrew Steele. They are escorting their two new comrades, Rory Mercury and Lelei La Lalena. 
Second Lieutenant Johnson contacted them and ordered them to protect the two while they are gathering dragon scales. 
"Is it just mean or doses everything smell... bad?" Alicia asked as she passes this troll corpse.
"Well, they've been dead for a few days," Rory responds. "What did you expect?"
"It is just... there are a lot of them," she replied. "I just never seen so many dead before."
"I have," Rory states. "At least thirty times. Probably fifty."
"How is it being so old?" Andrew asked, standing there as he keeps looking.
Rory lifts a body like it is nothing and tosses it so Lelei can get to the dragon corpse. "It has its ups and downs. I spent most of it traveling around."
She looks at Rory and can tell she does not want to dive into her past. She understands that; they only met this week. "Let it go, Andrew. A lady is allowed to have secrets."
"A lady?" Andrew said, looking at her. "What about dudes."
She, Rory, and Lelei all collectively say no at once.
She chuckles and looks around. "So how long will this take?"
"Normally removing scales takes hours for each dragon," Lelei said. "But I have a spell that allows me to remove them quickly."
She watches as Lelei points her staff at the dragon corpse. She sees this purple glow and then this beam hits the corpse. She sees the scales begin to vibrate and one by one scales come off. "Impressive."
"Damn right," Andrew comments as he watches.
She looks back around, just making sure no one sneaks upon them. She knows they should be safe however this is war and war have many unknowns. 
So far, they have harvested five dragons and there are three to go. "So, what do you do with these scales?"
"They are mostly used for magic," Lelei replied. "They are used to help enchant items. To help forge swords and armor. There are some powerful spells where you need dragon scales. Plus, some medicine and potions."
"Some warriors think dragon scales make good armor," Rory adds. "Some warriors want it however it is so expensive the benefits don't seem good enough."
"Interesting," she mumbles and looks around.
She hears this loud sound coming from the base. She looks over and sees three missiles being fired, hearing north-west. She looks over and sees both Rory and Lelei freaking out.
"What was that?" Lelei asked nervously.
"We are under attack but where is the bastard!" Rory yells as she looks around.
She chuckles see this. "Don't worry. It is Friendly-fire ladies."
"What was that?" Rory demands.
"It is an M142 HIMARS," she answers. "Probably firing MGM-140 ATACMS. 1st Cav is engaging the Empire and local allies to the north-west. Friendly fire support."
She watches Rory slowly lower her Halberd as she gets used to the missiles being fired from Alnus. "If you say so." 
"Let's hurry up," Andrew said. "I don't like being out here in the open."