>>37423035
Oh, I almost forgot about this. Time to military!

Did you die OP?

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I get "You are banned" errors every time I post so bear with me here
>>37423035

Ruck shifted his weight to his other leg. Rocks skipped down the hill - no big deal. He heard a clanging noise, and turned to locate the source of the noise. He saw a flash of fire, of metal, of...teeth?

And then Ruck was no more.

In Edgeholme, Squadron 4 was packing up to report back to the barracks, drunk, happy, and safe. Humet reminds you that you and Meredith kissed at some point, but you fervently deny it (you really don't know for sure).

Everything seems to be going swimmingly - until you're approached by a member of the town guard. "Commander Dizia Adellaide?"

You nod.

"Captain Brelok needs to see you. It's urgent."

>>37423397
Damn, Ruck got the shit end of the stick. Guess that's the fate of mooks!

>>37423397
Damn, I gotta brush up on all the characters' names again. I hope you have a paste or something!

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>>37423397
Not thirty minutes later, your team is standing in the Barracks of the 2nd Benozan Infantry Battalion.

Captain Brelok stands in front of you. She's wearing beautiful silver armor, her helmet sitting on the table between you. "Alright, Commander. Good news or bad news first?"

You look to your team, and then to Brelok.

>Good news
>Bad news

>>37423646
>Bad news
Always go bad!

>>37423646
>Bad news

>>37423646
>Bad news

>>37423397
>Humet reminds you that you and Meredith kissed at some point
We have good taste. Too early to say if the best, but it's a fine start!

>>37423646
>Bad news
yeah sure

>>37423671
>>37423680
"Give me the bad news first, Captain."
She pulls a piece of paper off her desk and begins reading it to you.
"This is a report from Lieutenant Bridges of Squadron 1, Borderland Platoon:"
>Approached kingdom of Malordia; noticed smoke rising from hillside
>Arrived to find a Malordian corpse lit ablaze; it was covered in bites(?)
>Noticed large object moving towards Squad; prepared for combat
>Large metal dragon [Commander note: possibly delusional] was found; shot fire at squad, several casualties
>Three escaped including myself; rescue party dispatched upon return to base

She looks at you. "As you could probably guess, this is a problem."

>Good news
>More about this
>Other

>>37423922
>More about this

>>37423922
>More about this

>>37423922
>More about this
Yeah this is a pretty big deal.

>>37423922
>Good news

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>>37423971
>>37424003
"Tell me more. Do you have any other information regarding this...'dragon'?"

She shakes her head. "No. Nothing. Lieutenant Bridges is still here, though, if you want to speak to him. He's still pretty shaken up, though."

>Speak with him
>Speak with the other survivors
>Don't speak with them
>Other

>>37424240
>Speak with him

>>37424240
>Speak with him
Shouldn't we get the good news first?

>>37424240
>Speak with the other survivors

>>37424240
>Okay. What's the good news?

>>37424280
>>37424287
You enter the back room where Lt. Bridges is staying. He looks at you and stands. "Good evening, Commander."
"Good evening."
"You're here to talk to me about the casualties, aren't you?"
"Yes," you nod. "We're trying to figure out what was up with that dragon thing."
He grabs the back of his neck with his hand. "Commander Gensey said it was my imagination. You believe me though, right? I wouldn't lie about something like that, I swear!"

He seems fairly distressed.
>"I believe you."
>"You're crazy."

>>37424412
Check his mind with magic.

>>37424412
>"Well I honestly don't know you nor was I there so I have little information to base an opinion on. I will at least consider your explanation."
Also >>37424425

>>37424412
>>37424425
>>37424465
These

>>37424425
>>37424465
You peek into his soul. If he's lying, he's lying with his memories, too. Everything seems to be in order.

"I wasn't there. I can't say for sure whether I believe you, but I'm still going to get this settled."

Cpt. Brelok is leaning against the door frame. "Scouts reported the dragon approaching Edgeholme. Commander, you're most senior here. You're leading a platoon. Think you can handle it?"

You smirk. "I know I can handle it."

>>37424610
Time for action!

>>37424610
But what's the good news?

>>37424610
What was the good news?

>>37424949
OP is probably struggling with ban messages again.

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>>37424949
>>37424735
>Good news: They're not all dead

>>37424654
"3rd Platoon reporting for duty, Commander!"
The motivated echoes of 80-odd soldiers is a bit of an ego-booster. You try not to let it go to your head, but you quickly fail.
Humet briefs the platoon while you're dragged aside by Valdra. "Hey. I'm sorry about how I was treating you earlier. Do your best out there. I'll do the same, alright?" She smiles at you. "You're a good commander. Maybe we can get transferred out of the borderlands if we do well here."

Humet motions you back to the platoon, and you hustle over. "Sergeant Humet has already informed you of the risks here. If any of you would like to stay out of this, you are free to return to the barracks."

The platoon stands strong, staring at you. Even the weakest, youngest soldiers look as confident as demigods. It makes you grin.
"Very well. Platoon; forward, MARCH!"

>>37424983
Oho, we've already turned around her opinion of us? I'm glad our night on town didn't fail but it feels a bit easy.

>>37425027
We defeated a demon and saved the soul of a comrade by virtue of being a soul mage. Demon smiting is A-OK with Valdra.

>>37425159
That is true, though it demonstrates other abilities than leadership strictly speaking. I won't complain though.

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>>37424983
After an hour of marching, you halt the platoon where Lt. Bridges saw the dragon. You sense something. Something strong. Your soldiers break their bearing, looking around. Nobody sees anything.

But then everybody saw something. The dragon is large. Much larger than Lt. Bridges described. It leaps over several rocks and lands no more than 30 yards from where you are standing. Its crystalline nostrils glow orange as flame fills its mouth, its steel teeth turning a hot red.

Dizia soul leaps the entire platoon at once.

>Turn order: Dizia, squads 1-4, Dragon.

Squad 1 is led by Meredith, 2 - Valdra, 3 - Humet, 4 - Quelana.

Ashe is in Squad 3, Chovik - Squad 4.

Each squad is 20 soldiers. (Plus whatever other units are attached.)

>>37425212
Uh, do we get combat mechanics?

>>37425212
I'm changing combat, since it was suggested last thread.
Everyone still takes their turn, but range, distance, and all of that bonus stuff is out the window. All flavor now. I'll tell you if you're in melee range or if you can get into melee range; otherwise, you can shoot. Still gotta roll, though.

>Dizia's turn.

The hillside is covered in rocks and bushes; easily enough to take cover behind. You're in front of your whole platoon; what do you do?

>>37425302
Okay, freeform huh. A paste going over our squad would still be nice since I'm not great at names and it's only been one thread.

I guess first off our squad should spread out and take cover separately. Dizia should set up some simple spell to test out the dragon's defenses IMO. If our squad has bows they should ready and nock them, waiting for Dizia's signal to fire.

>>37425302
What equipment does our small army have? I don't know what good swords are going to do, for example...

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>>37425365
http://pastebin.com/u/docriff
All pastebins; abilities are still there, just freeform now.
>>37425411
Squads 1 and 2 have spears and shields. 3 has swords, 4 has bows.

You brace yourself with a white shield, signalling the platoon:
"Alright, soldiers. Take cover behind anything you can. Archers, prepare arrows. Humet, fire at it to test its defenses."

>>37425460
We don't know what Valdra and Quelana can do which is a bit of a bummer.
For now, if Valdra has any defensive-type abilities or magic she should probably focus on that while we feel out the dragon; our melee feel kinda useless for now so keep them in wait. Ashe should try Blood Boil - either it works, in which case yay, or we know the dragon is resistant/immune to heat. Humet should keep taking potshots and keeping it busy, assuming it gives a shit about the arrows.

>>37425569
Sounds good I suppose. Get spear platoon 1 to stay since they're most likely to ward off a dragon (which means really unlikely but eh) and 2 and 3 move around to flank it with our more melee-focused squad-mates.

>>37425569
I would think without powerful magic or seige weapons it'll be pretty hard to hurt this thing at all. A huge crystal dragon should be pretty resistant to any physical attacks foot soldiers can inflict on.

>>37425652
Yeah, pretty much, but I don't think retreat is going to go very well either. And you never know, maybe it's stupid and likes to stay grounded and expose a vulnerable stomach or the like.

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>>37425569
Valdra is ready to heal anyone who is injured; for now, she is protecting the squishy archers with her divine shield.
Ashe attempts to make the Dragon's blood boil. It fails to do anything harmful, but it seems to confuse it a bit.
Humet begins to fire explosive rounds. They chip off significantly larger chunks of crystal.
The archers fire another volley - one of the arrows strikes at the creature's sternum; the cracked crystal reveals a glowing blue spot underneath its diamond-like skin.
Meredith charges at the Dragon and tries to stab it. While she manages a hit, it quickly goes downhill. Literally. The Dragon kicks Meredith hard, sending her plummeting down the rocky hill. You look, and she seems hurt but alive.
>Send Valdra to help
>Wait to help her

>>37425740
>Send Quelana to check on her and provide emergency first-aid - she's not doing much useful here yet anyway
>Try to hit the blue glowing spot with a Mana Shard burst (assuming we're close enough).
>Get Ashe to cast Fireballs aiming to chip at its crystals rather than do direct damage, since it seems resistant to that.
>Make sure the other squads are circling it just in case we want to make an all-out assault.

>>37423035
>Twitter Account Suspended

Why could that happen?

>>37425740
>>37425805
I'll back with the provision that we send Valdra if Quelana finds her to be seriously hurt and needing immediate heals.

>>37425805
>>37425856
I'll ratify that.

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>>37425844
Everything likes banning me, I guess.

>>37425805
>>37425856
"Quelana! Help Meredith!" You yell to her.
"On it, Commander," she replies, sprinting down the hill, pulling out a small vial on her way to Meredith.
"Ashe, Humet, Archers - Fire at the blue spot that Meredith struck."
You shoot a mana crystal at it; it becomes wedged in the cracks, and the dragon roars in (what you assume is) pain.
"Spears, Swords - Circle it while we weaken it. Wait for my word to charge."
You hear a cacophony of "RAH!" which you assume is their form of acknowledgement.
A lone Lieutenant of squad 3 begins a battlechant, waiting on your signal.

The dragon rears onto its hind legs and looses a fireball directly at you.
You manage a shield spell before it hits, but the shockwave knocks you onto the ground. Your consciousness fades.

>>37426060
What, oh man.
We can't faint now!

>>37426060
Guess we can't send out more orders.
I've gotta sleep anyway, so thanks for the thread.

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>>37426060
You awaken not even a minute later. The soldiers are charging the Dragon; its crystalline skin gave way to a soft, fleshy one, and the Lieutenant gave the order to attack.
You take a quick casualty check. 83 souls. Three have died. You stand, and gather yourself amidst the chaos. Humet is still shooting. Ashe is still fireballing.

Finally, the dragon falls. The spearmen managed the final blow, and the dragon poofed into a pile of ash with a large green rock atop it. The soldiers cheer.

>What do you do first?

>>37426294
Get people to retreat, send Valdra to help the worst wounded, get a shield up and approach. Don't want to risk it having any lethal death-spasms.

>>37426294
Time to loot!

>>37426294
>>37426327
This

>>37426294
>>37426327
Sounds good.

>>37426327
This is safest.

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>>37426327
You send Valdra to help the wounded and check who the casualties were. With a brisk stride, you cast a shield spell and approach the ash pile. The green stone glows bright as you approach, and it almost seems to whisper to you as you grow closer.

"R.......ru....uck."
You tap into the soul within.
"Who are you?"
"I am Commander Dizia Adellaide of the Benozan Army," you reply.
"Did you...kill the dragon?"
"Yes. We all did."
"Did you kill the wizard who made it?"
You freeze. "A wizard..made it?"
"Yes. One in your Army. She made it."

>Dizia character art courtesy of the gf

>>37426791
Uh, well shit. This soul wouldn't happen to know who, or at least any identifying traits of the mage, would it?

>>37426791
>>37426834
This

Nice artwork, btw.

>>37426791
>>37426923
Quite nice, yeah! Especially the face.
And yeah find out more etc

>>37426791
You withdraw from the rock and pocket it, turning to Humet, who followed you in case some voodoo shit went down.

"Humet, we've got a problem. This rock told me someone in Benoza created this dragon."

Humet tilts his head. "In the army?" You nod. "Well, if that's the case, we should probably narrow it down, shouldn't we?"

You ask the rock if it knows where you should start.

"Yes. The dragon was made somewhere in Pyrmont. It's on the coast of Benoza, I think. I'd assume it was the Mage's Guild; magic is banned in the city."

You sigh. Pyrmont is far. Really far.

"We're going to Pyrmont, everyone." Everyone except Ashe seems incredibly disappointed. She squeals in joy.

It's at this point you notice Meredith is not here.

>What do

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>>37426791
Original image, for reference.

>>37427015
Ask if anyone's seen her, try to link to her mind, and if those don't work have some soldiers spread out and look for her.

>>37427015
We sent Quelana to look at her wounds, didn't we? If she's here, asking her seems the natural first step, then search based on what we find out.
Also I'm guessing either Pyrmont isn't that great a place, or the journey will be tedious, if our party isn't too excited.

>>37427020
What's the source of this image then?

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>>37427066
You call out for her. "Has anyone seen Sergeant Meredith?"

Everyone looks around for her. Nobody says anything. Your attempt to link to her is fruitless. She's nowhere to be found. You run over to where she was; Valdra and Quelana are kneeling over her attempting to heal her wounds, but she's not moving.

You remember a spell that your brother taught you a long time ago, but you're not sure if you should attempt it. It could be bad for you.

>Give Meredith part of your soul
>"She can't be helped."

>>37427015
Find Quelana.

>>37427242
Really, even Valdra getting there ASAP didn't help? Geez.
>Give Meredith part of your soul
What exactly could be bad about it? I'll probably vote for it either way but...

>>37427242
>Give Meredith part of your soul
You'd think a soul mage would notice if a soul has left.

>>37427242

>Give Meredith part of your soul
This is gonna suck

>>37427374
I hope we won't have to do this regularly, or if so, we can regenerate any soul we give away. At this rate we'll run out of soul!

>>37427242
>"She can't be helped."
It's sad but we're soldiers. These things happen.

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>>37427293
>>37427318
You take a deep breath and drop to both knees next to Meredith's body. You lean towards her and place your hand on her forehead, channeling your powers. You feel a slight prick in your chest, but it grows into a sharp, stabbing pain. You gasp, but attempt to maintain your composure. The pain grows more intense every second; you feel like you're going to die, but after two minutes of pure hell, the pain disappears. Along with the vision in your left eye.

Your eyes open wide, and you begin to sob.

Not out of regret, mind you; out of realization. Meredith coughs up a bit of blood and begins breathing again, sitting up after a moment. Your left eye is now completely white, contrasting heavily against your other bright blue eye.

The others are astonished.

Well that sucks. We lost our vision in one eye and a piece of our soul just to bring back someone we barely know.

>>37427821
We'll see how much they come to value the sacrifice.

>>37427821
Yeah lets not do that again anytime soon. Like ever.

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>>37427484
Can we take back our soul? Tell them "My soul didn't accept her body"

>>37428068
Let's not be a bitch about it (and kill Meredith again). What's done is done.

Are you still with us OP?

I'm guessing it was supposed to be end session but OP forgot to say so or something.

>>37435079
Either that or they ran into a less avoidable ban message (OP should find a proxy) or the like. There wasn't even a vote nor did activity die, so.

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>>37427484
Meredith sits up and looks around in shock. You hear someone speaking, but you're too zoned-out to realize what they're saying. You're pulled back into the conversation when Meredith stands and pulls you onto your feet. You rise, and she hugs you. You realize that the others must've told her you did something to save her.

You calm yourself and manage a weak smile before Captain Brelok taps you on the shoulder. "We have scouts in Pyrmont if you're not up for it. We can handle this."

>Let the scouts handle it
>Follow through with the job

>>37436403
Oh, hello again!
>Follow through with the job
No rest allowed.

>>37436403
W-where were you OP?
>Let the scouts handle it

>>37436403
>Follow through with the job

>>37436412
>>37436446
Ban messages were getting vicious, so I just went to sleep with the hopes this thread would be up when I returned.

You shake your head. "I don't think I'm ready for Pyrmont just yet."

Brelok pats your back. "You did a good job this evening. Let's head back to the barracks; maybe the Colonel has news for us."

>>37436505
Ah, alright. Well, hope you're not having a problem with them now then.

OP please...

I'm not sure it needs it but a bump just because I guess.