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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."

"Roger that Andrew," she responds. She feels way to open right now. She does not want to die for some dumb scales.

As everyone gets back to work, she sits down to fix her boot laces. Once she finishes, she looks over and sees Rory standing there, with her weapon ready. "Rory?"

Rory halberd spins in the air and goes right past her, hitting this beast that is behind her.

She jumps up from where she was sitting and aims her rifle. "What the fuck is that?"

"It is an orc!" Rory yells as she rushes up and grabs her weapon.

"Contact!" Andrew yells as he fires his M4A1.

She aims her M4 and fires at an orc she sees. She kills one but sees two more ducking behind some bodies.

"I am going after them," Rory said, eager to fight.

"No," she said. "I am calling in a mortar strike. Just cover me."

She gets on her knee and pulls out her radio. "Alnus Command this is Vanguard-7. We have rouge orcs out here inside the perimeter. Requesting a danger close mortar strike over."

"Request has been granted Vanguard-7," Alnus Command said. "Mortar rounds inbound. Danger close."

She stands up after giving the coordinates. She sees two orcs in the distant taking cover. Then this explosion hits next to them. Then the second mortar round hits exactly in their position.

"Confirm hit," Alnus Command said.

"Hit confirmed over," she responds.

"What are they doing here?" Andrew asked.

"They are orcs," Lelei said. "Stronger than goblins. Some are smart while others are dumb. Depends on the type."

"However, Lelei" Rory interrupts. "They wouldn't come over here like this if they were alone. Unless commanded they are cowards. There has to be an Imperial Scout nearby."

She looks around, trying to see where a scout might me. "Andrew. What do your eyes see?"

Andrew looks through his scope, being the team marksmen. "If I were a scout, I would be in those bushes there. All the dead bodies are creating cover for them to sneak around."

"What about our thermal sensors?" she asked. "Thermal should have picked them up."

"Dragons see heat," Lelei said. "Many animals have skin that absorbs heat to hide and protect themselves from dragons and Wyverns. Scouts and hunters often wear those skins as cloak for the same reason"

"Interesting," she said. "Ok. Rory, flank those pushes. We will march forward."

She watches Rory run to the side at great speed. She is impressed by her speed, seeing nothing like it. Back in Ranger School, she has seen many fast men, but she could easily beat them all with no sweat.

"Lelei you are our support," Andrew said. "Just stay beside us. Let's go."

Both her and Andrew start marching forward. Their rifles aimed at those bushes.

"Talk to me Andrew," she said.

"My thermal doesn't show anything… wait," Andrew said. "I see something. It is faint but someone there."

She then sees an arrow coming out of the bushes. But Lelei takes out the arrow with a deflection spell.

They hold their positions and open fire at the bushes.

She cannot tell if they are hitting anything, but she sees Rory moving around. "Hold fire!"

Right then Rory bursts into the bushes and two males get tossed out.

She rushes forward with Andrew by her side. When they get close, she holds her rifle at the man getting up. "Stand down!"

"Stay down!" Andrew yells.

Rory walks out of the bushes like it was no effort. "Here are your Imperial scouts."

She sees a human and a dark elf, both males. Both are not in the standard imperial armor but wearing cloaks made out of animal skin. "If you move, I will gun you down. Don't try me asshole!"

"Now what?" Lelei asked.

"A response team should be here any moment," she said. "They will take over."

"And we go back to base," Andrew said. "Enough fun for one day."

"I have enough scales anyway," Lelei said.

Rory swings her weapon to the human’s neck, grinning evilly. "You are lucky. I would have just killed you two."

She turns around and sees three vehicles coming. Two are HUMVEES and the other is a Stryker.

Once they arrive the soldiers get out and take over for them.

She stands there as she watches the soldiers take the two in the Stryker. "Alright let's go."

--- Mess Hall ---

Rory Mercury walks away from the food line.

She walks past all these soldiers in a different color of green and brown colors. She has been all around Falmart, seeing many different kingdoms and towns. Each place has their version and style of armor and uniforms, but these are different. From what she can see they have no concept of personal armor.

As she walks, she sees Vanguard-7 sitting at their table. She walks over and sits down. "Hi boys."

"What about me?" Alicia asked.

"She was correct," Scott states as he eats.

She watches Alicia knock him on the head and laughs at the fight. These people seem very genuine on who they are, a sight she does not see often.

"Hey Rory," Randy said. "Please have a seat."

She takes a seat and looks around. She watches as the team goes around and share stories.

"Rory," Randy said. "It looks like you have questions on your mind."

"I do," She replied. "You people are so different from anything I have ever seen. I just don't understand somethings."

"We have questions too but what are yours?" Andrew responds.

"I noticed during the battle that none of you wear armor," She said. "I thought you guys were scouts but when I arrived here, I noticed none of you had armor on to. Your…vehicles… looked well protected but why not your soldiers? I thought you didn't value life, but your commander proved that theory was wrong."

"You're kidding right?" Alicia asked.

"The Major doesn't care about our lives," Scott said. "Before the war, he came to our unit. We rarely saw him for what, a month?"

"Really?" She said, surprised by their hostility towards their commander.

"That only one who likes him is Andrew here," Scott adds.

"Because they're both nerds," Alicia said with a chuckle.

"Nerds rule the world," Andrew said casually.

"Not on this world," Alicia responds.

"I see," She said and thinks of the past few days. "I guess you are right. Your leader jumped out of a moving wagon to face down a legendary dragon. Rescued a girl from a slave trader and helped refugees."

She looks around and notices their silences. "But it is not my place. Do you mind answering my question?"

Randy looks at her. "About armor? We do use armor. Just not like the enemy of this world."

"That is correct," Scott adds. "Our armor is the Improved Outer Tactical Vest. Inside the vests, we have these small plates that we can swap out. While this is an oversimplified answer, we call it Kevlar."

"Scott here is right," Randy continues. "On Earth, we don't use swords anymore. Only knifes for self-defense."

What she just heard shocked her. Swords and bows are the standard weapons on Falmart. While there are different types of each weapon the principle is the same. She specializes in her Halberd weapon. While strong and sturdy, it is still a melee weapon. If what Randy said is true, his world no longer uses swords but this version of a bow.

"Is that true?" Rory asked. "Everyone in your world uses weapons like yours?"

"Correct," Randy said.

"Hi, Rory."

She looks away and sees her new friend Lelei La Lalena. She is a mage in training who helped out during the battle with the Flame Dragon. "Hi, Lelei! I figured out the name of their world. It is called Earth."

"Really?" Lelei said as she walks over and sits down.

"Attention," Randy said.

She looks around as all the Rangers stands at attention. She then sees Johnson walk up to the table, then tell them to sit down and enjoy themselves.

From this interaction she can tell they do have formalities. Sharpe explained that the United States does not have kings or Emperors. The fact she has yet to see any nobles or royalties is confirming that.

"So, your world is called Earth?" Lelei said.

"Correct," Randy responds.

"So, what are your plans here?" She asked. "I mean your people. I understand the Empire picked a fight with your kind."

She sees Randy look to Johnson, showing a chain of command with these people.

"You already know the basics," Johnson said. "As of right now, our mission is defensive until we learn more about this place."

She did not like that answer so she starts looking around. "Where is the Major? I will get an answer out of him?"

"He is with Selina," Lelei said. "She wanted to watch what you Americans call cartoons on his communication device again."

Lelei then looks at Rory. “I am finish counting all the dragon scales we counted. We collected two hundred and seventy-eight.”

She looks at Lelei, eyes widened from what she heard. " two hundred and seventy-eight? We are rich!"

"He gave you two approval to go harvest some. Andrew and Alicia. I want you to go out there and help. The last thing we need is the guards thinking they are sneaking upon us."

She looks at Johnson. "Why would they think that? Would they really shoot us?"

"If they are smart, they would," Sharpe said as he walks by the table. "The guard's job is to engage anyone who gets close to this position. Our number one priority here is to prevent a second attack on Earth. Everyone is still trigger happy and we’re Rangers, we do this properly."

Sharpe then looks at Andrew and Alicia. "Good job out there. It looks like they have been spying on us for a week. All four of you."

"They had it coming," Alicia said with a laugh.

"It just shows we have to be careful," Randy said. "We might have superior weapons but all they need is a good opportunity and you are dead."

"And that is why we took on a dragon right?" Alicia said in a sarcastic voice.

She hears the team laugh from that. She looks to Selina who is standing by his side with one hand holding onto his pants. She is the same height as her, with blue eyes, and brown hair. She sees this nice, clean dress she is wearing now.

"Hi, your holiness," Selina said in a shy tone.

She smiles and gives her a warm hug. "Everything is ok. Was he being mean to you?"

Selina looks at Rory and shakes her head no.

"That is good," she said. "By the way, nice dress."

"Thank you, your holiness," Selina replied softly.

“You don’t have to call me that,” she responds. In her younger days she enjoyed those titles but as she gotten older, she grown to hate them.

“I cannot,” Selina responds quietly. “It is not appropriate. You are a representative to the gods.”

She rolls her eyes after hearing that.

“This Apostle business sounds important,” Andrew asked. “Are their more of you?”

“Yes,” she said. “There are many, but we rarely work together. We all travel around doing our thing. They are scattered all around the world, representing their gods. I only just arrived back to Falmart six months ago.”

She then looks at Selina. “And you can call me Rory. You all can. None of this holy crap. I get enough of hat at the palaces. And these titles like holiness only goes straight to your head. I rather live a humble but beautiful life.”

She sees many of the Rangers compliment her on her new dress. She knows what everyone is doing, they are trying to boost her self-esteem, to give her some love.

She makes room by pushing on Scott who is sitting next to her. She uses her supernatural strength and easily pushes him to the side. She then lets Selina sit down next to her. She then looks up and sees the team leader Major Sharpe sit down at the end of the table, close to her.

"Major. What are your people's plans here?" She asked, testing him.

"That is simple," Sharpe said. "As I said, our primary mission is to prevent a second attack. And now we know who the enemy is, that being the Empire. We are going to find them and destroy them."

She takes a light nervous breath, wondering what he means by that. "What about the people?"

Sharpe looks at her confused. "What about the people?"

"What do you plan to do with the citizens of the Empire?" She asked again. She wants to know if she is trading one evil Empire for another.

"Nothing," Sharpe said.

"Rory," Randy adds. "We do not attack civilians. As long as no one takes up arms against us, we have no ill-will to the people."

"The Sergeant Major is correct," Sharpe said. "There are rules in war, and we follow them. While mistakes can happen in the fog of war, our job is to protect civilians. Otherwise, we are no better than the Empire, whoever they are."

"I have a question," Lelei leans forward and asked, looking directly at Sharpe. "I am a bit confused on one of your terms. Why do you call yourselves Rangers?"

Sharpe looks to the other Rangers. "Any of you want to take that?"

"I think you got it, sir," Randy replied.

Sharpe looks at Lelei and then Rory. "You understand their different units in an Army?"

"Well yeah," She replied. “You are not the first military I dealt with. You just have fancier toys.”

"Ok," Sharpe said as he collects his thoughts. "We are part of the 75th Ranger Regiment, a special forces light infantry. We are some of the bests within the Army. We act as a reaction force on Earth."

"What he means is when people want to start something the Army sends us to 'clean' it up," Alicia said with a chuckle.

"Correct," Sharpe said. "This is the first time we ever been to a new world. We do not have a rulebook for this. Every day we are writing the rule book, so the Rangers created the Vanguard program, a side unit within the 75th. Our job is to explore this world."

"I understand," Lelei said. "You send the best to deal with the unknown. Interesting."

She thinks about that and likes the answers the Major said. While she has a lot to learn before she decides she wants to stay with these people, her heart is telling her to trust them. To trust him.

Before she can continue, she hears the table get slammed. She looks at Andrew and sees him frustrated.

"Ok," Andrew said. "I have been waiting long enough." He then looks to Lelei. "Can you show us some magic?"

"Oh yeah," Jerry said. "You used some kind of force shield to save the Major?"

Lelei blinks and looks around. "I just used one of my spells to help deflect the flame blast. I had to use all my mana to do that. I am happy it worked."

Lelei looks at them all confused. "Do you don't have magic?"

"No," Andrew replied.

"He is right Lelei. There is no magic where we are from." Sharpe adds. "During the Invasion of Philadelphia, we have reports of these wizards doing something that looked like magic, but we never could properly confirm it. Too much was going on."

She sees all the Rangers look at Lelei now. They all look like children about to see something new. Right then she realizes these people are just as baffled about her world as she is with theirs.

As Lelei explains what Magic and how it works she thinks about the situation. These people came here before they were attacked. They are like children and do not fully know what to do in Falmart. They have good intentions.

She already knows those good intentions can only go so far. She and everyone else on Falmart understand how brutal these lands are and it is clear these people do not fully understand that yet. Sharpe said that they do not kill the innocent but how long will that last if they do not understand who is good and bad?

She looks up and sees Lelei using her telekinesis to lift this tray. She sees the amazement in their eyes as more items on their table start to float up.

She giggles and pats Selina's head giving her comfort.