Armed Enlightenment V2

Shoddy Millionaires

It was a young forest rolling gently like the plains. So young, in fact, the trees barely gave any shade. And without any shade, sunlight struck the soil, giving the undergrowth room to grow, forcing them to cut through it and watch their step for the insect that'll eat an entire leg.

Adel joined Sister Entessia, still levitating, on the front. "I don't know if it's me, but everyone has thick leather boots."

"There is a specific family of plants with thorny vines that wrap around legs."

"Venomous insects?"

"I am the Holy Handmaiden. Healing the sick is my duty."

"Got it."

Adel rejoined the lieutenant behind him. "Remember those snake gaiters back in the day?"

"What about it?"

"The literal 'dart' on dart frogs."

She sighed. "Shit."

They might have combat wisdom, but nothing could prepare them when a banshee swoops in or the soil below them collapses and shows teeth.

Sister Entessia zoomed forward, leaving leaves fluttering in her wake. Adel and the lieutenant shared a look and gave chase, arriving to find her with a handful of knights gathering around a dense undergrowth.

Avrora and the princess caught up to them as Entessia grabbed the bottom of the undergrowth, or camo netting, and levitated over it. He had a guess when Ilia put Avrora's bag so far away, but it really was out of place.

"Is that... it?"

"Yes, ma'am. It is."

With the Iliapedia, Adel got a name. Four names. However, it can't be a Fuchs or an XA-600 because of their singular windshield scheme, so it had to be either a Pasi or a 6x6 variant of the Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé. He was unsure due to the tinted windows.

He went to the driver's door and opened it, et voila! It was a VAB MK3.

Lieutenant Koch climbed onto the roof, stripping away the rest of the camo netting with Sister Entessia's help. They were lucky to wear balaclavas. The lieutenant stopped and looked at Adel the same way he was probably looking at her, and an undeniable message was transmitted between them.

A Protector Remote Weapon Station armed with an M2 machine gun with an integrated container launcher for a Spike LR2 missile. Not a bad piece of hardware, but what could Ilia mean by it?

Meanwhile, another conversation was ongoing. "What is this?"

"A car, ma'am," Avrora said.

"A car? Should— should we fetch some horses?"

"That won't be necessary. But we will need help navigating it through the trees."

"Very well. My knights, pave a way for it to cross."

As the knights scattered, Adel focused on what it towed, Avrora's 'bag'.

He grabbed the side door to the olive 8.5x20 enclosed cargo trailer, wishing for crates of Humanitarian Daily Rations, and was received by pallets stacked high with boxes full of them. He closed the door, hoping for them to disappear, and they did.

Avrora, the princess, and a few of her knights approached. He did the same trick again in their presence and halted the princess as she saw it. Avrora didn't hesitate.

"It functions similarly to a storage. The items are cataloged, and only we can permit and specify which items unauthorized individuals can take from the storage."