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"Sir? What does this word mean?" Riimack asked, the large silver and blue dragon looked almost comical as he hunched over the small desk in front of him. Despite his best attempts at deciphering the exam he still stumbled on some of the larger words.

His drill sergeant gave a disapproving look and slowly walked between the rows of other dragons that were all trying to complete their tests in silence. Despite being larger than the drill sergeant, he still felt somewhat intimidated by the other dragon. The drill sergeant's bronze shoulders rolled with the grace of a predator as he came to Riimack and turned his head to see the question he was stuck on. "Dirigible, Riimack, a weather dirigible." He said flatly and saw the drake was still confused. "Weather Balloon. Come on private, I'm trying to teach you recon and surveillance. I would assume you would know at least some basic English." He chided and turned to walk back to the front of the class.

Riimack looked back down at the word, trying to commit the word shape to memory before muttering under his breath, "just call it a balloon then." Holding a pen in his large paw he tilted his head to make sure he ticked the right box and continued with his test.

The shuffle of a dragon standing caught his attention. The slender white dragoness gave him a friendly smile, her red neck frill flicking up slightly before she tucked her wings close to her athletic body. Riimack's eyes tracked her as she gracefully carried her sheet to the front in her jaws and placed it down on the teacher's desk. Her ivory scales shimmering under the lights of the classroom as she stepped out of the room.

"Viina, that's her name." He muttered to himself as he recalled her name tag. He had spoken to her once since starting at Veledar academy, the large military base that was nestled in the northern mountain range, a solid half day flight from the academy he used to call home. A pang of loneliness ran through his mind as he thought about where he would call home if asked. While his older sister and brother lived in Liberty city to the south, he had spent most of his life incarcerated. Only with the help of his brother had he been able to get free from behind bars, provided he served in the military.

Looking at his forearm at the standard issue watch and altimeter he sighed when he read the time, he was cutting it fine to finish his test and he looked back at the next question. Moving his mouth slowly he tried to read the next question, the words not being those he recognised but somewhat understood the message it was trying to convey. Unsure, he realised he had not selected answer B for a while and gave it a tick.

His mind kept going to the white dragoness who was always so friendly towards him, she was one of only a handful of female dragons in the flight and he had contemplated talking to her more. He smiled as he thought about how her bright eyes always looked to him and how her smile widened slightly as he walked into the room.

While Riimack had his fair share of schoolyard romances, and during his incarceration he had befriended one of the female guards. He had never actively seeked out a mate and while he had no issues talking to a dragon of the fairer sex in a friendly way, he always struggled to find the words to ask them out on a date, often wishing that they would make the first move.

Looking down at the next question in frustration he wished he could ask his sister for guidance, Reevian had taken on the motherly role once his actual mother escaped his drunken father's rage. He knew a holiday was coming up, Veterans Day, ironic that he would get a day off to visit his family even though he was not yet a veteran. Perhaps then would be a good time to ask for some sisterly advice. Swallowing, his thoughts drifted to Reevian's cooking, the tasty noodles and meats were on another level compared to the bland food served in the mess hall and he struggled to stay focused on the piece of paper.

As another dragon finished their test and left, he started to feel even more alone. During basic training he had enjoyed Taalli's company and started to wonder what she was doing, smiling slightly as he reflected back on how the confused and lost looking dragoness blossomed into a formidable and highly intelligent soldier by the end of their training. She was following a different career in the military and was training at a different base. A pang of regret for not asking her out flickered through his mind before he reminded himself that she had a civilian boyfriend, not wanting to be a deadbeat like his father, he had promised himself he would never pursue anyone that was taken.

He shook his head to then refocus on his test, the words melding together as he tried to think what they were asking of him. His large paw moved slowly to his harness to retrieve a white stick of small candies. For reasons unknown to him, this particular brand of sweets was issued to the soldiers yet were often abandoned by members of the flight and stories about them being cursed ran rampant. While they were not the best he had ever had, he liked them. Carefully and quietly, he used a claw to slip a few out of the wrapper and quickly snuck them into his mouth while the teacher wasn't looking.

Satisfied that no one had seen him, he slowly slid the pack back into his harness and continued to read his exam. Rolling the hard-boiled sweets on his tongue he enjoyed their artificial flavours and had to stop himself from humming while he focused on the words.

The drill sergeant stood up as the bell rang out to signal the end of the exam, turning over his page he realised that he hadn't even started on the other half. With a rapid scribble he ticked random boxes as the authoritative dragon approached.

"Pens down, Private Riimack." The drill instructor said firmly just as the large dragon ticked the final box and slid the sheet over towards him. "Perhaps next time, don't watch the pretty 'nesses leaving the room and focus on your test." He teased and stacked the exam with the others.

Riimack gave a polite nod and stood up, following the other dragon to the front of the room he turned and walked outside to join the rest of the flight. "Finally done, Riimack?" One of the other drakes teased.

Riimack felt attacked but smiled suggestively, "oh, don't worry. I don't finish anything quickly." He smiled as the rest of the flight laughed at his joke. While he was one of the larger dragons and much more muscular than the rest, he made sure to not fall into the 'dumb brute' stereotype by deflecting remarks with his wit.

Riimack jumped as the drill sergeant's voice called out from right behind him, the slate grey dragon's fit body moving like oil over water as he approached the flight. "Alright flight, let's see if Riimack does indeed take things slow." His booming voice carried across the group of recon dragons. "All of you, full radio kit. You're going to test your endurance. Get into a holding pattern above the base at 20,000ft. Last one down wins a warm meal, the rest get MREs. Move it!"

Riimack smiled, endurance flights were one of his favourite exercises. Any excuse to fly was welcomed after his time ground bound in prison. He quickly joined the flight as they queued up at the supply locker to retrieve a heavy radio and took to the sky. While the dragons all wore a tight-fitting harness, it was a base rig that allowed the dragons to attach whatever equipment their role or mission called for in addition to anything else they wanted to fly with.

He was passed the large green box and curled his head around to use his teeth on the straps. Securing it in place and extending the antenna down his spine towards his tail. Curling around he secured the tip of the antenna to where the straps of his tail pouch wrapped around his tail base. Rolling his wing shoulders and twisting his head from side to side he lumbered up for the long flight.

With a paw he patted the many other pouches on his harness to make sure he had his secret stashes of snacks and then unfurled his large dark blue wings. Launching quickly into the air he followed the rest of the flight towards the mountain range that protected the base from northern winds and rose steadily on the updraft.

"Cute pouches, got enough?" One of the drakes teased, his own harness was stripped down to be as light as possible, with just the heavy radio between his wings. Meanwhile Riimack had loaded his harness with as many pouches as possible.

"The 'nesses just keep giving them to me for some reason," he quipped and deliberately clutched one on his chest, "this one? your ex gave it to me, after I showed her what a real drake feels like." He retorted and stretched his wings out wider to climb higher than the other drake and beat his wings a few times to surge ahead.

Riding the thermals and updrafts he quickly rose high into the heavens, the rush of wind over his scales and the sun on his wings made him feel alive.

Humming to himself he looked down, countless buildings and barracks dotted the expanse of land that made up the academy that would teach him how to be the eyes in the sky for the dragons and humans on the ground.

Checking the altimeter on his wrist he confirmed he was at the correct height and pressed a button on the side of the gauge, a small chirp rang out from the device as it confirmed he had set the minimum altitude alert. A helpful piece of kit that would now warn him if he drifted too low by vibrating his forearm.

Watching the other dragons circling the thermals he slipped a paw back into a pouch, pulling out a strip of dried jerky that he then started to munch down on it. He knew that long flights were a battle of keeping energy levels up while his muscles would eventually burn with the burden of keeping them outstretched for so long. While the other dragons focused on flying as light as possible to reduce the fatigue, Riimack had packed his pouches with the bags of snacks his sister had given to him before he left, opting to feed his body the calories he was going to expend on the long exercise.

---

"Well, aren't you a little teacher's pet." Feerah teased as they received their latest theory scores. Once again, the more experienced black dragoness was playing second fiddle to Taalli.

The weeks of training were flying by as Taalli buried herself into her training. Her knowledge of structural engineering helping greatly when it came to their lessons, each multiple-choice question outlined a scenario involving a variety of different structures and how to effectively remove supports using explosives.

On more than one occasion, Taalli had caught the older dragoness' blue eyes drifting to her sheet during a test. The only areas that she was outclassed by Feerah was ordinance removal scenarios as she was often over calculating the required amounts of explosives needed.

"Teacher's pet? Come on Feerah, you can do better than that." Taalli teased as she reviewed her results.

Shane sat between the two dragonesses in the large auditorium while waiting for the next class, as the sounds of shuffling paper and collective banter from the students filled the air.

"Perhaps if you spent more time studying and less time chasing drakes, you wouldn't be scraping by, Feerah." Shane mused while reviewing his own grades, tapping away at a calculator he confirmed where he had made errors and dutifully took notes of where he needed to improve.

"Oh, I'm sorry Shane, did you think you and I were exclusive?" She retorted and curled her tail around to run it up his back suggestively. "Like the song goes, if you liked it, ya should have put a ring on it." She sang quietly, feeling him tense under her teasing touch.

"Oh, does this mean you're gonna stop trying to get me under your tail, does it? Thank Christ!" Shane groaned, "please, I'll even help find a drake if it means you will stop pestering me."

Feerah feigned offence, "excuse me, there is plenty of Feerah to go around." Lowering her head down to his she smiled, the scar that ran up her face looking even more intimidating with the hungry look in her eyes. "It's just a matter of who gets to go first."

Shane swatted her nose with a notepad which sent her reeling back in shock, "oh, still playing hard to get I see." She teased, her attention momentarily breaking to watch a drake move past them and take a seat at the back of the room. "What about him Taalli?"

Without even looking up from her papers she sighed, "no Feerah, he is all yours. I'm taken, remember."

"Boring." She replied flatly. "I'm just saying, if you died tomorrow, would you regret not having him on your back tonight?"

"Nope!" Taalli said quickly with a broad grin. "My Mike is plenty enough for me, and I'm going to see him tomorrow. Veterans day!" She added, her whole-body wiggling in excitement.

"Oh my god, you are adorable honey." Feerah mused, "kinda a dick move though, keeping him on the hook."

Taalli snapped her head to the back dragoness. "What does that-"

"Settle down class!" Called out their drill instructor Tony as he moved behind the podium. Taalli frowned at Feerah before closing her mouth and focused on the drill instructor.

"Today, we have your first live fire exercise." With a press of his presenter remote the projector whirred to life and a washed-out image slowly came into focus. "These are the schematics of the training buildings that have been constructed for you to put your theory into practice."

Taalli's eyes widened as she looked at the architectural drawings, the logo of her father's company sat boldly in the bottom right corner, obscuring the legend and hiding its designer's name from view. Her jaw tightened as she scanned the familiar design, rage building inside her as she remembered drawing this building during her time at the university.

The careful drawing outlined the floorplan of a simple yet efficient building that she had designed with Mike as their final assignment.

"As you can see, Large Scale Developments have done a fantastic job in providing us with valuable data on this structure. Remember though, in the real world you will need to rely on your training to determine where to place charges, bad guys have a habit of not telling us how their buildings are made." He joked and all, but Taalli joined in with a chuckle.

She knew that her father had been inspired by her works before, and he was a more than competent designer himself, but to lift her university assignment completely caused her stomach to churn. Looking closely, she could see only one amendment to the design her and Mike made. While the main centre column was a cylinder of reinforced concrete and steel, the support beam above it that spanned the length of the structure was thicker than what the pair of them had specified.

Her father's words about deliberately over building things so he could charge more came back to her like a claw through her wings.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to bury her frustrations and focus on the drill instructor's lessons. Trying to convince herself that perhaps the beam was thickened to withstand a blast.

The human at the front of the class held a small brick of plastic explosives up for the class. "This is all you are going to be given. In the battlefield you will be expected to make do with what you have, or at least do the best you can."

One of the dragons unfurled a wing and raised it. "Sir, you expect us to level it with such a small payload?"

The instructor chuckled, "it's not the size of the payload, it's what you do with it. Or so I've been told." He paused for the chuckle to sweep through the class before continuing. "I would be impressed if you did. But no, it's been designed to sustain a larger blast than what you will be using, that way we can all have a go. Besides, last time someone miscalculated the size of a blast, we had to rebuild half the academy."

"He is right though." Feerah muttered under her breath, noticing Taalli and Shane glance at her, she smiled. "Small packages can be fun too. Isn't that right T?" She added and nudged Shane with her tail.

Taalli rolled her eyes, "remember when I told you to leave my private life private?"

"No?" Feerah lied and gave a wide grin in return.

"Everything good up there?" Called the drill instructor from the front of the room, causing the whole class to turn to look at the trio.

"Yes sir, just comparing notes." Taalli lied, her wings restlessly tucking against her sides under the stares of the class.

"Uh-huh," the instructor said, his words dripping with sarcasm. "Well make sure they are up to scratch, you just volunteered to go first." He added and the rest of the class chuckled.

"Understood, Sir." Acknowledged Taalli before glaring at Feerah who shrugged nonchalantly.

As the lesson continued, the drill instructor went on to show how the central column was the core supportive structure of the building and went through the maths on how much explosive power would be needed to take the building down. The formulas on the screen were familiar to Taalli as they were simply modified variations of the ones, she used to design the building.

Taalli reached over to Shane's desk and slid his calculator over to her, without even glancing at the formulas in the screen she started punching in numbers with her claw. Pausing, she double checked the result again and sighed when she came to the realisation that the support beam her father had modified would indeed survive the blast of the small explosive they were given.

"Everything okay?" Shane asked as she slid the calculator back with a hint of disappointment in her posture.

"That building can't be dropped." She said sadly, "not without a lot more c4."

"It's just a practice run, don't overthink it." He muttered to try and reassure her.

"Alright, class. Outside and ready in five! Get it moving." The instructor called and the students quickly placed their notepads away in their harnesses or bags and started to file out of the room.

---

"When you told me you found a spot, I didn't expect it to be this good." Ben said as he stepped out of the old van.

Mike turned to smile at, hopefully, his soon to be former boss. "Not bad, eh? The estate agent gave me the keys to check it out." He said while proudly standing next to the large roller door of a closed shopfront.

The sudden gust of wind made them all squint as dust was kicked up from Geevin touching down on the pavement next to them. "This is it is it?" He asked in his deep draconic voice before stepping beside Ben. Sitting in his haunches, he extended a wing around his boyfriend and looked up at the shopfront.

"Well, I haven't signed anything yet, but I'm keen to get your thoughts." Mike said enthusiastically as he knelt down to unlock the roller door.

With a loud rumble the door rolled up revealing the bare interior inside. Turning around to Ben and Geevin, Mike bowed and gestured inside, "Welcome! To possibly the first claws on coffee cafe."

Ben and Geevin wandered inside, the single room were devoid of all furniture and was simply three bare walls with a glass frontage. Signs of the previous tenants could be seen by the odd fragment of tile on the wall and the faded coloured walls.

"This is bigger than I expected." Mused Ben as he looked up at the sparse ceilings.

"I like it!" Geevin added while mantling his wings before stretching them out. Even at full extension his tips didn't make contact with the walls.

"Good! I was keen to get your thoughts Geevin, I really want to be able to cater to dragons." Mike said while walking around the empty space. "I'm thinking the counter would go here." Mike said while gesturing to one area, "maybe some large, padded areas over in this corner." He said and gave the pair a tour of his vision.

Ben leaned against Geevin's shoulder and watched with pride as his young employee went into detail of how the store would function. Clearly passionate about this giant leap into the unknown.

"So, what do you think?" Mike asked, slightly out of breath from talking so much.

"This is huge Mike, I'm happy for you!" Ben said warmly, "although, maybe I've been paying you too much." He teased, "are you able to afford this alright?"

Mike scratched his arm and turned to look back at the space, "well, I've had help." He mused and started to pace around the empty room. "Taalli has been sending me her pay, which helped a lot."

Ben could tell when Mike was troubled and stepped away from Geevin, "Michael, what's wrong."

Mike looked sheepish as he turned to face his friend again, "Nothing's wrong, it's just, someone else has offered to help." He said cryptically.

Ben frowned, "what do you mean?"

Mike took a deep breath, "you know how her mother dropped all that cash." He started and saw his boss tense, "I've been thinking about trying to get some more out of her."

"Does Taalli know about this?" Ben's voice filled with concern. He remembered vividly what happened last time Mike had been promised money from Taalli's family and it had not ended well.

Mike's guilty look spoke volumes as he broke eye contact and started walking around the room. "Not exactly-"

"Mike!" Exclaimed Ben.

"It's okay, Seelena has left her husband. I can make it clear that Taalli would only see her mother when she wants to, not the other way around." Mike said firmly, "I just need to find a way to tell Taalli that." He added quietly.

"Mike, she seems like a piece of work. I don't want to see you in jail again." Ben said firmly and placed a hand on Mike's shoulder. "How much do you need? Can I give it to you as an advance or something?" He asked, while his bar paid the bills, it wasn't a money printing machine, but anything would be better than seeing his friend in danger again.

"No, it's not that." Mike said, "I know she is scum, but she is scum with some money. Taking it from her is my way of getting back at her and her mate, for what they did to Taalli."

Geevin moved closer to his boyfriend and lowered his head to Mike's level, "you might be playing a dangerous game Mike, like Ben said, we don't want to see you tangled up in their web again."

"It's okay, honestly. I know how to play their game, and I have all the important cards. I appreciate the concern, but I've got this, okay?" He asked.

"She won't like this." Ben said, "Taalli, I mean. She would be pissed if she knew you were thinking of talking to her mother."

"I know," Mike said softly, "but once she sees what she has waiting for her, and that it's a safe place, she will come home. I'm sure of it."

---

"Ever used a paddle?" Feerah asked as the trio approached the table of equipment, the small bricks of explosives sat in a small pyramid while detonators and remotes were kept a safe distance away from it.

"No Feerah. I'm not into spanking." Taalli sighed, "and for once, can you get your head out from between your legs? It's getting old."

Feerah smiled and held up a remote detonator. "This kinda paddle, you dirty minded 'ness." She teased and tapped the trigger with a digit before tossing it to Shane. "Dibs on the danger putty!" She added before picking up a package and slipping it into her harness pouch.

Shane offered the detonator to Taalli who shook her head, "can I supervise? I kinda don't want to fuck it up."

"Only this once." Shane said warmly and tucked the remote and detonator into his webbing. "Eventually you will be carrying the charges and the detonator." He added with a hint of firmness.

"Oh, I know." She said quietly. Glancing to the instructor and class that were waiting a safe distance away. When they received a thumbs up from Tony and they began walking over the small burn towards the training building.

The large grassy paddock was pockmarked with small craters and mounds, signs of previous exercises littered the dirt by way of fragments of grenades and other debris. A tired looking amphibious assault vehicle lay on its side with its tracks blown off. Long grass growing up through the numerous holes blasted in the steel hull as nature tried to reclaim it.

Taalli's heart rate increased as she spotted the lone structure, they were tasked with trying to blow up. Her designs were made real yet were covered in a large image of her father smiling smugly. The slogan of his company painted on the side of the building read 'Built Large, Built to Scale, by Large Scale Developments.'

The structure itself was only the ground floor of what would have been a much larger skyscraper. The designs she had worked on with Mike had answered the brief of the assignment and the final building would have consisted of copies of the ground floor stacked on-top of one another. The simple repeating design would have made construction easier as every floor would have been identical.

With a central column that rose through the centre of the structure, the support beams that ran the length and width of the building held the concrete roof slab securely above. Her mind going back through the design in her head, the key detail in the building's construction was to have the roof slab poured at once, from the centre so the weight was evenly distributed across the beams.

"You good Taalli?" Feerah asked as he saw her lingering back, she could tell something was troubling her and looked at the image of the dragon before a smirk pulled at her scared snout, "don't tell me he is your type? I didn't put you as the sugar baby."

Shane could see the concern on Taalli's face, "shut it Feerah. What's up Taalli?"

"Nothing sergeant." Taalli said shortly and adjusted her wings, her whole-body tense as she moved with them towards the concrete building.

"Let's just get in, plant charges and get out." Shane instructed as they continued their march.

"I'm just saying Taalli, this is going to be your life from now on, going into danger, carrying explosives, and dropping buildings. Oh! Don't forget the bit where they shoot back at you either."

Taalli looked at the black dragoness, "what's your point?"

"Look, you be you. But the way I see it, you could get clapped at any point, hell, even the explosives in my rig could take us out if something went wrong. So, if you want a hunk of a dragon on your back, do it!" Feerah explained, "or a human." She added and looked at Shane. The black dragoness waited until he glanced at her before giving him a wink.

"I'm not a slut Feerah." Taalli retorted.

"Oi! I ain't either! I don't sleep with just anyone." And pretended to be offended when they both glanced at her. "I choose who I fuck, not the other way around. Just because a dragon wants a piece of Feerah, doesn't mean they get it. I'm the one in control, just like you and Mike."

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Taalli asked, her voice raising.

"Oh please, I've seen you holding that little pager of yours at night. Super cute that you have a literal button to say you're coming home for sexy times."

Taalli's eyes widened in disbelief, "that- that's not what that is."

Feerah's smile widened to reveal her sharp teeth, "oh really? so if the drill sergeant said you could have the day off, you wouldn't ring that bell and have him dancing to your tune." As Taalli snapped her mouth closed and looked ahead, Feerah knew she had pushed her too far.

They walked in silence briefly before Feerah looked at the orange dragoness. "Hey girl, I'm sorry if that came out-"

"Shut up Feerah." Taalli spat and concentrated on the building ahead. She knew her relationship with Mike was more than just him dancing to her tune, but she struggled to focus as her emotions became hijacked by the black dragoness' words, memories of how her father insisted on having only humans take care of their houses filling her mind, how he would call a number and have them come to take care of anything he needed them to.

As she looked up at the image of her father, Kaarak, her eyes lingered on his black paws. The same black paws she inherited along with his wing arms. Dark thoughts creeping into her mind, was she controlling Mike? Was she just like her parents and how they had controlled the countless staff they hired throughout her upbringing.

Entering the building, the dry scent of concrete dust and smells she recognised simply as 'construction' filled Taalli's mind as she padded behind the others. While looking half built she mused that there was no need for the final furnishings as it was to be used to simulate blowing up the building. The result looked unnatural, the walls bare grey concrete and while she expected there to still be tools and debris from construction it was completely sparse.

"There, that's the central column." Feerah announced as they approached the centre of the building. The single cylinder was so large that Taalli would struggle to wrap her forepaws around it if she pressed herself up against it. She watched as the black dragoness pulled out the small package of explosives and slipped a talon through the paper wrapper before she started to knead the putting while Shane prepared the detonator.

"Doesn't need to be another sculpture, Feerah, just slap it on." He stated while unpacking the detonator.

"Oh my god, fine!" Feerah exclaimed, "you don't let me have any fun." She added before pressing the explosive putty onto the column.

Taalli looked around the building, the surreal feeling of being inside something she had penned made her feel a strange sense of melancholy. She knew that if she had stayed with her father, she would have likely overseen this project, yet now they were simulating blowing it up.

Looking up at the ceiling she cocked her head, the support beam that ran across the length of the roof caused her to pause. "That fucking runt. You slimy, two bit, fucking thief." She said while rearing up on her hind legs to stretch as high as she could and trace a fore paw along the support beam.

Both Feerah and Shane stopped and turned to face her with a look of disbelief. "Excuse me?" Feerah asked, her lips curling back into a toothy smile as she heard Taalli continue her rant.

"I bet you charged them for the extra material too, you cheap, soft scaled, stealing piece of…" her words trailed off as she realised the others were watching her. "This beam! It's how I-" she clamped her mouth shut before taking a deep breath. "The plans showed this beam as thicker than it has been made."

Shane looked at Feerah and back to Taalli and shrugged, "what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong?" Taalli's voice raised on its own as her anger started to build again. "That cunt said it was… fuck-it! Out of the way."

The pair quickly moved out of her path as she approached the main column that Feerah had placed the ball of c4 on. With deft claws she quickly pulled the sticky substance off and started rolling it into a long thin line.

"I think I like this Taalli." Feerah muttered, "she's got a mouth on her."

Shane stepped forwards as she reared up again to reach the point where the beam met the central column. "Taalli, what are you doing? The column is the core support structure."

"Uh-huh." She said in a distracted tone as she reared up again and started snaking the thin line of explosives around the profile of the support beam. "Detonator." She stated bluntly and held out her paw.

Shane frowned at her, but Feerah snatched it out of his hand and passed the small cylinder to Taalli. Gently inserting the detonator into the putty, she then sat back to admire her work, the support beam that she had designed was never meant to survive a blast from explosives and it was clear that her father stole her plans directly. She wouldn't put it past him to then charge the military for a thicker beam even though he built it thinner. His words of always trying to find a way to make profits made her scales crawl.

"I don't understand, why not the column?" Shane asked. "It's the central support for the building."

"It's way too thick, no way this small charge will get through it, this beam on the other hand, is designed to support the roof and the plans said it should be larger than it is."

"Do you think it's a good idea to break the beam?" Feerah interjected. "This is a training exercise after all."

"Drill instructor said the enemy wouldn't give us plans for their buildings and said he was happy for us to try and blow it. Don't you see? It's a trick, give the students plans, so they make the same mistake." Taalli explained. "Afterwards they then go on about how we are meant to look for solutions or some shit."

"I hope you're right, come on, let's get clear." Shane said before they quickly left the building. With the charge set they returned back towards the class who were perched on-top of the berm.

Looking back at the building Taalli's heartbeat quickly, a smile creeping on her snout as she looked back at the building she designed, her father's smug face about to be removed permanently.

Shane pulled out the remote and disengaged the safety. Standing next to Taalli and Feerah he called out to the rest of the class. "Fire in the hole in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-"

As he finished saying one, a black paw reached over his hand and firmly squeezed the trigger. Taalli's eyes locked onto her father's as she gripped Shane's hand on the remote.

Unlike the movies, there was no giant orange fireball and mushroom cloud. Instead, the sound of an anticlimactic crack echoed out across the paddock followed by a small burst of dust from the empty windows.

Taalli's grin faltered as the building remained, her father's ever-present gaze burning its judgemental stare at her.

"Well done! Your first controlled detonation. Who would like to go next?" The drill instructor asked as the rest of the class clapped their hands or beat their wings against their sides.

Taalli's eyes narrowed as she concentrated on the building, despite her best efforts, she had still been beaten by her father. "That- that's not fair-"

Her words were cut off as the building emitted a low groan followed by a clatter of cracking concrete. Taalli's eyes widened as she saw a large crack run across the painted smug face of her father. Her teeth were revealed by her wide smile as she watched one half of the building collapse under its own weight. With the cross beam broken, one side of the roof quickly collapsed in a cloud of concrete dust. With the weight now uneven, the central column was now horribly unbalanced and began to crack under the lateral strain of the second half of the building.

With an almighty crash and a cloud of dust, the once brand-new training building was reduced to nothing but a heap of concrete and steel. The entire class was stunned, a look of disbelief on the drill sergeant's face as he pulled his eyes away from the scene of destruction and walked towards the trio.

Taalli's heart soared at the sight of the crumbled remains. Her father's broken image caused her to start to chuckle as years of pent-up stress and pain was suddenly released. Feerah looked at her with a concerned look, the dragoness beginning to laugh in a deranged way as the drill sergeant arrived.

"I said to take one pack!" He exclaimed, his face going red in anger at the elated dragoness.

Taalli clamped her jaws shut but lost her battle when she saw a chunk of concrete collapsing and broke the silence. A roar of laughter erupted from the orange dragoness, "We did! I promise, one pack, it's all it took." She gasped between breaths.

"You think this is funny?"

Taalli stifled her laughter and nodded her head. "A little, yes sir." She blurted honestly, much to the frustration of drill sergeant Tony.

"That building was built to withstand three times the blast of what we gave you. It was designed to be used again and again for the rest of the class to have a go." The drill instructor barked, bringing Taalli's laughter to a stop.

"Hope you have a receipt." Muttered Feerah which triggered another roar of laughter from Taalli. Her laugh became completely unhinged as she kept looking at the remains of her father's work.

Shane stepped forwards as he saw the drill instructor open his mouth. "Sir, was the mission not to destroy the target?"

"I didn't expect you to succeed!" The drill sergeant exclaimed and turned to see another wall of the building collapse with a dull thud and a cloud of dust. "There is no way you dropped it with just one pack."

Shane shrugged, "don't know what to tell you, like Feerah said, maybe talk to the builders. They mustn't have built it to spec. I can confirm that we used only what was issued, in a manner that provided an optimal use of power." He said flatly.

The drill sergeant looked at the still giggling dragoness and then back at the rubble. Taking a deep breath, he then released it slowly, "well… it's fucked now. I guess the rest of the class will just have to turn dirt." Looking at Shane and then to the vibrating dragoness, "good work, I guess."

As the drill sergeant left to instruct the rest of the class, Shane glared at Taalli, her jaws clamped closed but eyes watering. "It's not that funny."

Taalli gasped for breath, "oh, it is for me." To which Shane just shook his head.

"Why? Why is it so funny?" Feerah asked, her blue eyes burning into Taalli to search for answers. "You're laughing like a mad scientist." She added with a slight chuckle as Taalli's laughter became contagious.

"Oh, you wouldn't get it. Very long story. But I think it looks better now." She said and nodded to the ruin, "no dickhead looking smug at us." She mused and wiped a tear from her eye. She smiled and grinned at the other two, they would never understand the symbolism of destroying something her father stole from her, nor could she ever tell them.

"Girl, you kinda scare me a little. I've never seen someone enjoy blowing something up that much." Feerah teased, "Shane?"

The human shook his head with a smirk, "nah, and my guys are Marines." He added, causing Taalli's sides to shake as she stifled another laughing fit.

Taalli's eyes widened and clutched a paw to her chest as a sharp pain shot through her body. The sudden inhalation of breath caused the other two to look at her in concern. Stars filled her vision as every nerve ending in her body felt like it was on fire, unable to breath, her whole body shuddered in agony. Opening her mouth Taalli found her voice silenced by her uncooperative lungs before she fell back into her haunches, her claws pressed into her chest while her other claws dug furrows into the ground.

The dull sounds of concerned voices sounded muffled and distant as she suddenly felt very dizzy. The pain ended as quickly as it came, the burning sensation through her body replaced with a sense of falling.

Feerah quickly stepped in and put herself next to Taalli as the orange dragoness lost her balance. Falling against Feerah, she gasped, her once bright eyes becoming nothing more than slits and her breathing rapid along with her pounding heart as she struggled to support her weight.

Blinking rapidly, she tried to focus her blurry vision. "-alli, you good? Taalli, can you hear me?" Shane asked his voice concerned as he looked up to her.

Swallowing and coughing to clear her throat, Taalli sat up straight again. "Uh, sorry." She started before clenching and unclenching her jaw. "Sorry, I. I don't know what that was about."

Looking over to the rest of the class she could see them focusing on the next group of soldiers as they marched towards the ruined amphibious tank. She stood up on her own and took a few gingerly steps, other than the odd taste in her mouth and a tingling sensation in her scales she felt fine. "I'm okay." She stated, her voice shaky before swallowing. "Just a stitch, I think."

"That didn't look like a stitch." Shane said bluntly. "Do you need to see a doctor?"

Taalli shook her head, the thought of a doctor finding something wrong with her filled her with dread. She tried to swallow the bad taste that still lingered in her mind. She could see the concerned look in the human's eyes and tried to shrug it off. "I'm good, I promise, fighting fit."

Feerah wasn't convinced, her stern blue eyes briefly met Taalli's and saw the fear and pain in her eyes. Smiling, she gave Taalli a playful nudge. "Hun, when was your last heat? I bet you just have cramps."

Taalli opened her mouth to retort but paused. The firm look made it very clear that she was not asking a question, the subtle flick of her blue eyes from Taalli to Shane telling her silently to comply. "It's been…" she paused to think, her eyes going wide as she realised, she was way overdue, her last heat came before the beginning of her final year at university. "Maybe, eighteen months?" Even though she knew it was more like twenty.

Feerah's jaw dropped, it was well known that every dragoness would go through a season at least every nine to twelve months. To be so overdue would only happen in stressful periods of a dragoness' life. "Fuck girl!" Feerah exclaimed. "Yeah, I would be cramping up like something chronic." The black dragoness looked at Shane, "probably was just a stitch and a cramp, the things you lucky men don't have to go through." She could tell the human wasn't completely sold. "So, wait, Taalli? You haven't had a drake flushing the pipes for that long?" She asked and Taalli shrugged simply. "Damn girl, probably your body just begging for some hot dragon cum!"

"Okay! That's enough for me!" Shane exclaimed and walked off to join the rest of the class as they prepared to detonate a charge, they had placed on the blown-out vehicle.

Once Shane was out of earshot Feerah turned to Taalli, "I think he bought it, but honestly, are you okay?" She asked firmly, her voice was deprived of her usual playful notes.

Taalli was about to lie before Feerah stepped around in front of her, her bright blue eyes pinning her like prey. "I- I don't know." She murmured. "Why did you cover for me?"

Feerah looked off to Shane before turning back to her, "I can usually get a good read on people. I could see you didn't want him to worry. It's happened before, hasn't it?"

Taalli gave a weak nod, "once, but not this bad. I'm fine, I promise."

"I can make an excuse for you to see a doctor, it could be serious. Hell, they may even let you out early if it's something nasty."

Taalli quickly shook her head. "No, I, I can't leave yet." She said quickly, the hint of panic in her voice made Feerah's eyes narrow.

"Why not?" Feerah asked firmly and saw Taalli become focused on the grass. "What are you hiding from?"

Taalli swallowed before her eyes flicked to the crumbled remains of her father's image, "please, let's just drop it."

"Taalli, if you are not well, you need to see a doctor." Feerah said firmly, her gaze following Taalli's to the ruin they created. Turning back to look at the younger dragon she took a deep breath, "Taalli, if others are relying on you, and you freeze up-"

"I said drop it!" Taalli snapped, the loud bang of an explosive charge going off in the field giving a final emphasis on the conversation.

Feerah's nostrils flared as she looked down at the younger dragoness, her piercing blue eyes searching Taalli's for answers. She could see the look of fear masked by a determination, a look she had seen many times in the eyes of those she served alongside. Seeing the fighter inside Taalli helped make her feel more at ease. "If you say you are good, I'll believe you. But if it happens while you are deployed. People will die. You know this right?"

Taalli found herself unable to hold her gaze and looked to the rest of the soldiers, "please." She said weakly, "let's not make this a thing."

"If it becomes a problem, I'll drag you to the doc myself." Feerah said bluntly. "I won't have you risking others by being stubborn."

Taalli nodded, still unable to meet her intense gaze. "I'll be okay, I promise." Her voice meek and unconvincing.

Feerah took a deep breath and sighed, the young dragoness was clearly hiding more than just her health from her, but she knew better than to get entangled in other dragons' lives. "You owe me one." She said with a hint of warmth.

Feerah turned and walked back towards the class, a small voice came from behind her, "thank you Feerah."

---

The drill instructor in charge of the flight at the Veledar recon academy squinted as he looked up into the afternoon sky. All but one of the dragons had returned to the ground after exhausting themselves flying. Pulling a clipboard out from his harness he looked at the name of the dragon who was still gliding effortlessly on the thermals, dark blue wings almost invisible against the clear sky. Frowning, the instructor checked his watch, this large silver dragon was well on his way to beating the academy record.

"Is he still up there, sir?" Asked one of the dragons in the flight. As the instructor motioned for him to come closer the student obeyed.

"Radio private Riimack, make sure he is okay. I want to make sure he hasn't fallen asleep." The instructor said firmly. Following the radio protocols that had been drilled into them, the dragon tried to raise Riimack to no effect.

"He isn't responding, sir. Want me to intercept him?"

The drill sergeant looked at the drooping wings of the other dragon and shook his head, "I'll get him, I need to remind him that he should have his radio on." He stated firmly and unfurled his large wings.

Launching into the sky the drill sergeant beat his wings firmly while riding the updraft of the mountains until he could hear a deep voice being carried on the wind.

"Whoooaah, we're haaaalf waaaay there,

Whoooaah ooh, livin' on a praaayer,

Go under my wing, we'll make it I swear,

Whooooaaah-" Riimack sang at the top of his lungs before pausing to hum a segment and fished the last piece of jerky from his pouch. "Aww, last one." He said sadly before tossing it into the air ahead of him and snapping it up in his jaws.

Bobbing his head and humming along he spotted his drill sergeant flying up to intercept him, turning his radio off he quickly swallowed the piece of jerky.

The drill sergeant flapped his wings and levelled off next to the silver dragon. "Is there something wrong with your radio private?" The drill sergeant asked with a raised eye ridge.

"No, sir. Why do you ask?" He asked as polite as possible, trying to keep a steady demeanour while his commanding officer's stern gaze burned into his already fatigued body.

"We tried to raise you, why weren't you responding?" Barked the drill sergeant before giving a flap with his wings to keep his altitude alongside Riimack.

"Oh, sorry, sir I-"

"And you were to survey the base, where are we right now?" The sergeant asked firmly.

Riimack's head drooped, looking down he could see he had drifted away from the academy and was well out of position. "Sorry sir, I wasn't paying attention, sir." He said sadly.

"That's right, private, and what happens when you stop paying attention?"

"People die." Riimack muttered.

"That's right, private." The drill sergeant said and looked over the wings of the large silver dragon, some of his wing fingers were quivering with strain and it was clear that Riimack was doing whatever he could to keep his mind off the pain. "There is a switch on the side to tune into two frequencies. Make sure you are always on our comms channel." The drill sergeant said warmly. "How are your wings private?"

"Still got some left in me, sir."

"You are the last one up, but keep going and I might even let you out on leave early." The drill sergeant challenged and with a nod he cropped his wings.

He watched as his stern sergeant dropped through the sky before Riimack twisted his silver tail to slowly bank back towards the base. His mind drifted to the possibility of flying back to the city to spend Veterans Day with his sister and brother. With an upcoming exercise down south the day after the holiday, he hadn't expected to get much time with his family. Taking a deep breath, he stretched out his quivering wings and tried to distract his mind from his sore body.

Reaching up with a tired paw, he found the rubberised switch and pressed it. An audible chime rang out from the speaker on the side of the radio pack and used a large knob on the side to adjust the frequencies. Suddenly hearing the chatter of the rest of the flight he smiled, turning another knob he balanced the audio so he could hear the comms channel and listen to music and turned up the volume. His deep voice rang out across the sky to no one as he continued to belt out the lyrics.

---

The imposing black dragon sat on his leather wrapped cushion behind his solid mahogany desk. The curtains that often shielded Kaarak's office from view were retracted so he could survey his dwindling workforce.

His ebony talon traced over the marks in his desk left from the last day he had seen his daughter, his solemn eyes drifting to the broken picture frame that sat next to his computer. The shattered glass having fallen out in chunks to reveal the old photograph of him teaching his daughter a valuable lesson. He could still hear his now ex-mate chastising him for encouraging the young fledgling to build a replica of the famous golden bridge out of small Lego bricks. "It's not a job for a 'ness." Seelena had insisted, yet he was so focused on trying to make her his protégé that he had forced her to run from him.

He caught a glimpse of a fearful look from his latest assistant, even the young dragoness that had been used to help him relax in the past was starting to hide herself from him when he became frustrated.

With his mate abandoning him and his daughter disappearing he had thrown himself at his work. Pushing himself to work long hours and manage the smallest details of a job to ensure his legacy of a successful development magnate remained untarnished. However, it seemed the more he worked, the more of his staff would leave his company.

A loud chime from his computer disrupted the tense silence of his office. His eyes flicked to the screen and narrowed as he read the concerning email. "That's not possible." He muttered to himself. The email had come from a very high ranking officer in the military which went on a tirade of how a structure that Kaarak had designed for him had failed to withstand a blast it was designed for. His stomach tightened as the email went on to question his skills and reputation on further projects and demand a resolution from his development company as soon as possible.

Kaarak's claws dug into the soft carpet as he finished reading the email. He remembered the building in question, being a building that didn't require permits, connection to city utilities or furnishings, had not only turned a sizable profit but also opened the door for further projects for Uncle Sam.

He drummed his claws on the solid timber desk before slamming his paw down and getting up. His assistant was reading the same email before her eyes flicked to his. Seeing his lip curl back into a snarl she lowered herself slightly behind her desk as he opened his office door with a slam. "Send them a reply, tell them we will do our own inspection on the building first thing tomorrow morning. And tell them I'll be there myself."