"Mom…" Darian gasped, "I can't breathe…!"

"Darian!" Eriane scolded. "Don't make Mom cry! I'll shoot you!"

"But… but…"

*BANG* Eriane's toy gun fired.

They ate dinner together. Sabriane came up from the new hospital site. Remian came out of his room. The apartment instantly became the Vin family home, and it stayed that way for five days. Five warm, soothing-if-somewhat-annoyed-by-siblings days.

In these days, the miners avoided the new tunnels and the dragon within, just mining Fire Copper and Jade normally.

In these days, Remian left practically everything north of KarGoth to George, repeatedly stressing the dangers of killing too many Wilds, but not interfering with George's policies.

In these days, Darian became a hero to the younger generation who sought this new trend/craze called 'Comrades' with tail-wagging enthusiastic cooperation from the wolfcats. The average levels of cub care/pampering, ear-scratcing, tummy-rubbing and wolfcat-bribing-with-roasted-meat skyrocketed. While he spent most of his days at home with his family, he once took to the skies for an airborne tour of Shadowflash Fief with Ha'res-dras, Mindy, the Eagle Lord and his family, and roughly one hundred of his subordinates. Mindy had gone with Lady Eagle, while the Eagle Princess took a ride atop her daddy's back, both girls swearing to fly the skies on their own power one day… but just not today.

George watched them fly together and return together, the dragon yawning as he slunk back into the warm Flaming-Bronze-rich tunnels, the Eagle Lord sniffing and mentioning how tunnels was beneath him in the process… Mindy and Darian laughing over themselves as they parted ways. He watched the two of them from afar, and his face slightly darkened.

And then the next Beast Wave arrived.

***

Days since last Beast Tide: 14. Current Kill Count: 417 (42 since yesterday).

Mindy stood at the prow of the Red Fang as they watched the signals rise from the south. Three plumes of smoke; this was just an 'average' Beast Tide, then? No, wait, there's a fourth.

"Battle Stations!" Mindy called into her comms crystal. "Form Battle Fotresses!"

"Encles School Battle Fortress, beginning combination procedures! All hands stand by…"

"KarGoth Battle Fortress, currenly in mid-procedure, gunboat docking complete, Tugs locking in…"

"Farm School Battle Fortress, already formed up and fully prepared for battle!"

"Scouts, report!" George called.

"Black Depths Foresight reporting! We see them! Estimate sixty Wilds, mainly Tier 4, with a handful of Tier 5!"

"Jim? Are you guys in the air yet?" George asked.

"Yes. We're packed, and roughly… six feet off the ground!"

"Higher, please. We don't want you caught up in the Beast Wave."

"There's no need. We're practically out over the center of Black Lake. They're not going to reach us. Besides, Deepsilver is right here with us."

"That's another cause for concern. She might zap you."

"Happens all the time. You have no idea. Don't worry. We know what to do."

They really did. These days, Jim practically lived in a triple-strength rubber suit, sticking a metal lightning rod into the ground with every step he took. Still, he conducted his research and experiments with Deepsilver and his weird devices that kept blowing up and getting fried…

"FDF, status?"

"Kara upper crossbow unit, fully in position and tired of waiting since the first signals went up."

"Goth front gate units, both pike and shot ready."

"Kara auxiliary crossbow unit, we're set."

"Goth upper crossbow unit, everyone's here, and we'll be ready in a minute."

"Kara front gate pike, in position!"

"Goth auxiliary crossbow unit, we seem to be missing our second ammo cart… ah, here it is! We're good!"

"Kara front gate crossbows, where IS everybody?!"

"Sorry! We're coming! Arnold wanted us to bring his new repeating crossbow turret cart! We're almost there!"

"The turret cart is ready?" Remian echoed, astonished.

"Not exactly! The wheels still can't hold up! We're hauling it over by rail on a mining cart and then carrying it over by hand!"

"Need some help?"

"Actually, yes, please, this thing is heavy!"

"Scouts?"

"Jim here. The Wave just reached Black Depths Lake! They look fierce, guys! We're taking this gunboat up before they get anywhere near us! I can't believe they're so fast! Tier 4 predators in full charge, coming your way! Watch out for the cats! Goodness, are those lions metal?!"

"Golden Lions, Jim. I don't think their skins are actual gold, though."

"It's like they're made of plate armor!" Jim gasped. "Can crossbows really shoot through that?!"

There was a short, chilled silence.

"Guys, forget the repeater ballista turret cart. I don't think it's going to be of much use in this fight." George advised. "Pick up the pikes and the rams. We'll use the Pit."

"Got it! Everybody, Plan B!"

"Plan B!" the order rang out from unit to unit. "Plan B!"

"What's Plan B?" Darian asked.

"It's our Spike-situation response." Mindy explained over the crystals. "For the times when we're facing something big and heavy and our crossbows can't even hurt them."

"Push them into the Pit." George summarized.

"Um… Ha'res-dras is down there, you know?"

"Even better."

"I… better go wake him up."

"Please do."

"All units, report in when you've re-armed!" Remian requested a while later.

"Wait! It's not easy putting on heavy armor!" a dozen yelps sounded across the network.

"How much time do you need?"

"How much time do we have?!"

"Weren't you already wearing armor?!" Remian asked. "At least the gambersons?!"

A shaky voice quailed. "We figured they wouldn't even get in here, so…"

"Goth Front Gate Pike Unit here, we're ready! Fully armored and prepared any time!"

"Goth Front Gate Ram Unit, we've stowed away the crossbows safely and are now manning the ram! All members fully armored and in position!"

"Goth Upper Crossbow Unit, switching ammunition to smoke types, completed!"

"Kara Upper Crossbow Unit, same!"

"That's not fair! You only need to switch ammo, while we…"

"Less talking, more hurrying!"

"Jim here. Beast Wave pa.s.sing Black Depths Lake center, increasing speed! I can't believe it, but they're moving even faster!"

"Goth Auxiliaries, all armored up, ram and smoke-bombs ready!"

"Kara Auxiliairies, we're armored, and the ram's ready! What's this about smoke-bombs?"

"It's in the box! Over there!"

"Uh… hold on…"

Remian sighed. "We need the FDF to run drills for different plans in the future, not just train in shooting and personal combat."

Song Chen cleared his throat. "We did run drills, but mainly to get into position and Plan A situations. This is the first time we're implementing a Plan B case."

"Is everyone set?" Remian asked again.

There was a yelp. "Wait! Our crossbow… I mean… Kara Front Gate Ram unit is…"

"Where are they?" Kara Auxiliary Unit asked.

"They left their armor in their rooms!!"

There was a long, meaningful silence.