"A fifth Tier 8 Spectre?!" Mindy quailed. "But we just managed to get the upper hand!"

With Mal'thor-dras added to their ranks at Dragon Lake, the defenders had been able to breathe easier, as their top defenders outnumbered the four Tier 8 Spectres. They'd had room to maneuver, time to recover, even took opportunities to advance against the incoming incursion.

But with the appearance of a fifth Tier 8, that numerical advantage was lost once again.

"They're just going to keep coming. More and more of them are just going to waltz right through that Rift, and there's nothing we can do to stop them." George mourned.

"There is!" Mindy cut in. "Gary is bringing the spatial magic specialist over. They're already on the way. Once they're here, we need to escort them to the Rift. Then… then…"

"Then they seal up the Rift for good, and the war is over. The Spectres are done for, whether or not they manage to flee through the Rift before we seal it." Tim said smoothly.

"But… but what about Remian?" George frowned. "He's still out there, somewhere, on the other side of that Rift! If we seal it, then… then…"

There was a grim, extended silence. n.o.body wanted to voice out the probability of Remian stuck on the other side, unable to come home.

"It could be tricky, but let's try to get him back before we seal the Rift shut." Tim said optimistically.

"Uhuh. Right. Sure." George agreed hurriedly, as if covering up for a mistake. He surrept.i.tiously glanced sideways at Mindy.

Mindy didn't say anything. She didn't move. She just sat there with a dark cloud hovering over her head.

Hope was all very well, but Mindy spent day after day on the front lines of this war, and every day she battled with her life on the line. As much as she wanted to daydream of saving Remian before sealing the Rift, time and circ.u.mstance simply wouldn't wait. They HAD to seal it as quickly as possible, she understood that, even if she wanted to rail and scream just thinking about it.

"Mindy… are you all right?" George asked, hesitantly.

"I want to get him back. I want to save him." Mindy said slowly. "But I don't know how. I just don't know how."

n.o.body said anything then. The words 'so we'll do what we can' was on the tip of George's tongue, but seeing the gloom on Mindy's face, he just couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Come on." Darian stood up. "It's time we went and found out what that fifth Tier 8 is like."

***

By that time, the Sky Fortress from KarGoth had been modified beyond recognition. Most of the cargo s.p.a.ce had been taken up by magic cannons, ballistae and catapults, all of whom were previously employed at the Nine Kings Range as fixed emplacements. When the defenders pulled back to Dragon Lake, they had a quick debate about where to put down the big guns and finally decided to simply leave them where they were and modify the Sky Fortress to shoot them all.

This required a whole lot more structure for stability, including recoil-compensation platforms that employed a great many springs. The Sky Fortress' frame quickly doubled its original weight, and many cheaper materials had to be swapped out for lighter, stronger stuff. Goodness knows where the Lynxmice found it, but they somehow brought in a whole lot of Tier 5 and Tier 6 bones that were suitable for the job. Tim only said that they found those bones 'while tunneling'. For the sake of world peace, however, n.o.body dared mention those bones out loud anywhere near the dragons or the Eagle Lord.

This was the first of what came to be known as the Sky Fortress Mk 2. George loved the design so much, he ordered the other KarGoth Sky Fortress to match. This time, the engineers were given more time but less ready-made weaponry, and they were specifically instructed to build it with the Spectre Incursion in mind; every weapon on board needed to be able to harm, hinder or outright kill Spectres.

The end result would be an even slower and more heavily armed weapons platform than the prototype; George wasn't sure if they could even call it an airs.h.i.+p any more, it could barely move even with the help of three Tugs. The prototype Mk 2 was already being hauled around by four Tugs. The upcoming full version looked like it might need six.

"We need better Tugs." George muttered.

Also, KarGoth was going to need replacement cargo s.h.i.+ps, but right now more and more airs.h.i.+ps were visiting and trading at their airport, so George didn't actually need to worry about exporting their ores just yet. If there was ever a silver lining to the dark cloud of the Spectre Incursion, it was that it made KarGoth a lot more popular. There were even whole groups of new immigrants who'd learned from recent disasters that starting their own colony in the Wildlands was a really bad idea. KarGoth's population was booming every day.

Now, if only these spies, reporters, inspectors and investigators would directly take up arms and help fight the Spectres…

Then again, it was more important that they send word back to their bosses for serious military aid. George could only address them with as much politeness and patience as he could.

But then there was this one airs.h.i.+p among all others that, upon arriving, received the most heartfelt welcome George had offered in ages.

"Isabella!" George shouted as he waved. "Juni! Loh! Tamera! Gary! You guys! You're all here!"

"Is that the boss?" An unfamiliar guy wearing clothes from the Dragon Empire asked Gary.

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"Uh… sort of." Gary paused. "But that other guy there? He's also kind of the boss."

He was pointing to Tim. Back at Fal'Herim, it was Tim who found them, saved them, housed them and employed them.

"So he's the one paying the bills?" the Dragon Empire guy queried.

"Uh… no, the one paying the bill is her." Gary pointed to Mindy.

"Right. So she's the head honcho…"

"Uh… no, technically, the King of the Eastern Edge Region is Darian…" Gary pointed.

Finally, the guy sat down and stared at Gary. "I am confused. Just who am I supposed to listen to?"

Mindy cleared her throat. She pointed to herself. "Me. I'm the boss of the mission you're hired for. Tim is the long-term boss of everyone else on your airs.h.i.+p, but right now they're on my mission. Darian is boss of this Region we're in, don't break his rules. George is boss of the army, please follow his directions to get to the Rift safely."

"I am?!" George gaped, bewildered. "How come it's me? Shouldn't it be Darian?"

"Everyone knows you. n.o.body knows me." Darian shrugged. "Besides, I'm too busy fighting in person to command anything."

"Four bosses." The guy sighed. "Greetings. I am Tang Yin."

"Spatial magic specialist." Gary said emphatically.

"I know I look young, but I know my stuff." Tang Yin added in a tone that indicated this was a phrase he'd repeated all too often.

Mindy looked at him blankly. "So? We're all about the same age or younger."

Tang Yin froze, blinked, and suddenly realized it. All four of these 'bosses' were Gary's age, probably younger than him by a year or two.

"See? Young is no problem." Gary said, putting an arm around Tang Yin's shoulder. "Not around here."

***

The plan was to sneak past the Spectres. One Strike Frigate escorted by a wing of fighters and a dark green Great Dragon would attempt to slip over the Spectres' heads using cloud cover at night.

"Why can't I go?!" Mindy fumed.

"Because a giant bird of fire would attract too much attention!" George explained. "Mal'thor's golden color would likewise be too visible. It's got to be Kor'ag-dras or Khar'al-dras, and between them, dark green blends into the night better than bronze."

"We can bring some Pale Dragons for extra support." Darian added, thoughtfully. "Among the clouds, they're the hardest to spot. In fact, I still think we should all just ride dragons."

"You want me to load delicate lab equipment onto a dragon?" Tang Yin stared.

"Forget it. Also, if you're bringing Pale Dragons, we can keep the fighters here." George mused. "The fewer we send, the less attention it would draw."

"Speaking of attention, we could run a diversion. Mount night raids on both flanks or something." Tim suggested.

"Better not. Let's just keep tonight quiet." George shook his head. "Let's not alert the Spectres in any way."

"How about we stand by just in case?" Mindy suggested. "We only move out if we need to, just in case the team needs us to divert attention away from them all of a sudden."

"Fine." George paused. "You're sure you've got everything you need?"

"Not at all." Tang Yin admitted. "n.o.body's ever done this before."

"Then congratulations and good luck." George patted him on the back.

Gary chuckled. "Great. If we get killed, you can put that phrase up on his tombstone."