Holly
She felt an ominous feeling of doom as the quad's fuel levels teetered ominously toward the E.
I don't like the looks of this, She admitted internally, looking ahead once again, toward the forest rushing past her face. The quad zipped quietly across a small trickling creek, the motor's hum near-nonexistent as the tires shredded the bank before silently continuing through the undergrowth.
Eventually she reached an open clearing, and shut off the motor, the sounds of birds and large insects filling her ears.
Sighing, she reached into her coat for her personal PDA, with the small hope her account hadn't been terminated yet. Upon logging in, she grinned to herself on the fact that it wasn't, and was still active for the moment.
"Great, now to…." she trailed off as she tapped the glowing blue screen, selecting "Project Phase." on her screen.
A small loading symbol appeared, before she heard a rustling noise in the forest, the sound of something large approaching.
Holly set the PDA down slowly, reaching for her father's gun in her coat.
Please don't be the USCM or a mean dragon…
She hoped internally.
As she raised the gun toward the sound, the rustling stopped.
Holly didn't lower it.
"W-who's there?!" She shouted, widening her stance. Silence followed, no one answering.
"Answer me!" She yelled, cocking back the hammer.
The silence continued, before the sound resumed.
"Okay! But don't shoot!" A male voice called from the bushes.
USCM. I think. I'll need to see him first.
A young man stepped out of the shadows of the forest, holding a submachine gun, which he held out and dropped as he approached her, holding his hands up.
"Who are you?" Holly repeated, not lowering her weapons in case another soldier was waiting nearby to shoot her once they were given the chance.
"Firenze, ma'am. P-please don't-shoot me." he replied, his eyes slightly terrified as they darted from her face, to the gun, and back.
"Who sent you?" She demanded.
"Nobody. I'm…..I'm deserting. Kinda. It's…..it's complicated, really."
"How so?"
He sighed, gesturing to the trees with an open palm.
"Goddamnit Fire! I told you not to give me away!" A female voice shouted from the forest.
He turned toward the voice. "Well I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO NOT GET SHOT, SO CAN YOU PLEASE COME OUT HERE?!"
Holly gasped, as a smoke-gray dragon stepped out of the green, unfurling her wings cautiously as if she suspected she might have to take off at any moment.
"Amazing…" She uttered, holstering the gun.
"Not too bad yourself." The dragon commented, eyeing her curiously. "Are you with those military-types from back there? If you are, then don't say anything. Because I'll kill you."
Holly smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Hm. Fierce. I like that. But no, I'm not. In fact, they'd probably kill me on sight."
The dragon shrugged. "Well, I'm sold. Any enemy of theirs is a friend of mine."
Holly nodded. "Same here. I was given the death sentence for insisting you guys were sentient, against the director's wishes."
Firenze flinched. "Oh, your Doctor Holly, aren't you?"
"And I see my reputation wasn't far behind." Holly replied, brushing her hair aside. "What's your name, dragon? I notice your kind is not from this world."
"Name's Kelsey. Yes, it was self-appointed. Mainly because it was the first one I heard. I didn't have any friends untillllll…" Kelsey counted on her talons. "...twenty minutes ago."
On that note, she pounced on top of Firenze, knocking him onto his chest. "So, what do we do now, best friend?" She asked loudly.
Firenze looked up and gave Holly a pleading glance. "Does this explain it for you?"
Holly laughed. "Perfectly. You two are perfect for eachother."
"Awww, maaaaan…" Firenze groaned, just before Kelsey hugged him tightly.
They seem alright. Now, back to the task at hand.
Holly grabbed her PDA off the quad, seeing the page had loaded.
Project Phase: Acquisition.
She gasped.
They finished the tests, even without my research.
A feeling of failure washed under her skin, clearing any hopes of success she'd had.
"What is it?" Kelsey asked, setting Firenze down and peering over Holly's shoulder.
Holly paled. "Project Glass Eye is over. The follow-up project, Project Silver Scrape has begun its first phase; Acquisition."
"What's that mean?" Firenze asked, making a face.
"It means the USCM has done enough research to determine whether the capturing of dragons would be worth their time." Holly said gravely.
Kelsey shuddered, narrowing her eyes. "I am NOT going back, no matter what those idiots think is worth their time." She established, snorting distastefully.
"I think the real problem here is when this will happen, and if we have enough time to stop it. If the USCM deployed full forces onto the planet, the results would be catastrophic for the dragons."
"Such as?"
"Just imagine giant aircraft carriers being dropped in the ocean by spaceships, and military bases built in every nook and cranny of the continent, a railway connecting each." Holly sighed.
Firenze frowned. "That was...extremely specific."
"I was there when they discussed the schematics for a possible exchange route."
"Ah. What now?" Firenze asked, eyeing Kelsey before she leaned down and licked his face.
"One, EW, Two, CAN YOU PLEASE NOT?!"
Kelsey shrugged. "I can't help it, you kinda taste good."
Firenze shuddered. "Don't ever repeat that again please."
"Whatever, I won't lie to you."
Holly stared down at her PDA's list before she shut off the screen.
"We have about three days until their full plan goes into action." she said, exhaling sharply.
"Which means?" Kelsey inquired.
"Which means," Holly echoed, adjusting her glasses, "We have three days to get help before the dragons of this continent are slowly turned into cybernetic weapons of war."