"You want me to do what?" Mindy stared at George blankly.

"Get Tang Yin safely to the Rift and guard him for eight hours." George repeated.

"Didn't we just do that?"

"That was to scan the Rift. Now we need to get him there to seal it. Him, and enough crystals to support a spatial loop." George explained.

Mindy hesitated, then looked away. "It's better to ask Darian or Tim. Someone with a Tier 8 comrade and enough power to get the job done."

"They're busy fighting the Tier 8 Spectres. We don't need overwhelming power for this job. We need stealth, and we need someone with knowledge of the terrain." George paused. "That means you."

"But… but I've lost most of my powers. I'm not much stronger than an average Legionnaire and far less skilled with weaponry and Frames and… and…!"

"It's not about combat ability." George shook his head. "It's because you've been there before. You've made the trip on foot."

"And with the Spectres around, it's not likely I'd be able to get Tang Yin there alive!"

"You won't be alone." George a.s.sured her. "We'll send adventurers with you."

"Adventurers? A four-man team?" Mindy asked cautiously.

"We were thinking to send nine or ten small teams, spread out and in communication." George said. "With yours in the center."

Mindy thought it over. "Better to send a full raid."

Adventurers normally moved around in teams of 3-8, most commonly four, dividing the three main roles of offense, defense and support as needed between them, with a fourth commonly being recon. Such groups usually stuck together long-term. A raid , though, was a short-term affair, a single job or hunt with three full groups of eight going after a single target together.

"But wouldn't it be harder to sneak in with such numbers?" George queried.

"Sneaking in wouldn't work anyway. Spectres don't use eyes." Mindy pointed out. "Thinking back on our battles so far, there have been several skirmishes where whole platoons of troopers fought without any major fuss on their side. Since they're somewhat accustomed to groups of that size already…"

"They might think you're just another military patrol." George realized. "I see!"

"I'm thinking that we'll still have to fight our way through some Spectres, but it won't be their main force." Mindy figured. "Just whatever has it in mind to try to stop us."

"That might just work." George was getting more and more convinced.

"Also, we should try to use wood." Mindy went on.

George stared, blankly. "Huh?"

"Metal doesn't seem to hurt them very much." Mindy explained. "Magic and fire works better, but I've never seen a reaction from the Spectres as big as what just happened when we threw wood at them. It's possible that maybe… they have that as a weakness."

"Wood? Spectres are weak against wood?!" George felt incredulous, but then thought back on the black area the Spectres occupied. It was truly bereft of all vegetation. All plants and trees had been deliberately wiped out by the Spectres.

"Actually, there's more to that idea." Mindy hesitated. "I think maybe… it's water."

"Water?!" George stared.

"B-because!" Mindy hurried to make her case before George sent her to a mental asylum. "They won't go near the sea! They're coming up north because they can't go south, or east, or west, because that's the sea, and it's water, so…"

"Every plant has water. Even animals and humans have blood… is that why they're trying to kill us?" George gaped. "Because they hate water?!"

"Uh… maybe?" Mindy just felt relieved he wasn't pointing at her and calling her crazy.

"But… but the whole world is filled with water! Even the air…! If they hate water so much, then why do they even come here?!" George protested.

Mindy shrugged. "I have no idea, but there must be something they want. Maybe it's like a dangerous training grounds for their young? Or maybe they want something in the ground, or the air, even…"

George froze. "The air? They want our air…?"

"Or sunlight." Mindy said. "Like plants."

"They want to kill us for sunlight?!" George gaped.

"I think it's more like they want to make this world suitable for themselves." Mindy guessed. "Water and water-based creatures are just nuisances they want to remove from it."

George gulped. Removing water and water-based creatures basically meant wiping out all the native life on their world.

"Anyway, I may be wrong, but that's the best theory I could come up with." Mindy shrugged.

"It's possible. Plausible. Even probable." George mused. "It's a good theory."

"But irrelevant. Whatever the reasons, they want to kill us, and they're much stronger than we are, so we have to seal up that Rift." Mindy summarized. "Before the Rift gets big enough for a Tier 9 to come through. Any word from Tang Yin about how long that could take?"

"By his calculations? Roughly one week from yesterday." George paused. "That's the bare minimum."

"Minimum is all they need. We must seal it before then." Mindy closed her eyes. "It's just…"

"Remian." George grimaced. "He's not back yet."

"We can hope."

"We can hope." George agreed. "But… we can't wait."

Mindy hesitated. "Maybe just a little…"

"Not even a little. We must seal the Rift as soon as we can. Even if a Tier 9 can't come through yet, another Tier 8 could, and even one more, at this point…" George's face was grim.

The Spectres still had four Tier 8's active. Khar'al-dras, Kor'ag-dras, Mal'thor-dras, and the Wind Emperor were able to hold them off, but all three Emperors were already in bad shape and needed more and more support to do so. Already, the Wind Emperor was nearing his limits, and Mal'thor-dras probably wouldn't have interrupted his recovery to join the fight if it wasn't literally on his doorstep. Kor'ag-dras was in better shape, likely because of Darian's support, and Khar'al-dras was in yet better condition, but Tim had nowhere near the kind of power that Darian had.

If even one more Tier 8 Spectre came through…

"Darian can handle one more on his own. He's done it before." Mindy frowned.

"For a short while, maybe, but he won't be able to last in a prolonged battle like the big guys." George shook his head. "That's why he had to take terrible risks and end the fight quickly last time. It's a gamble with his life on the line to go up against a Tier 8 Spectre, and there's no telling if he would win or lose next time. If he loses, it's likely he dies, and all of us with him."

"That, or Doom would step in and save his dear student and solve everything just like that."

"Doom's not even here. I think he and the other Grand Knights went off to Ecclesia to try to get them to come and help." George sighed.

"Fat lot of good THAT has done." Mindy scowled.

"It should. They said they were coming." George frowned. "Except that we haven't seen a single glimpse of any of them so far."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Mindy snorted.

***

They gathered at Darian's old hut at Dragon Lake. Together with Mindy and Tang Yin, twenty-seven Adventurers divided into three full teams of eight, and two forward scout groups of five.

"We want to go too!" Gary spoke for the other orphans who studied at Ecclesia.

"You guys can be the rear guard." Mindy directed them. "Watch our backs."

"Err… I thought we'd be in the middle…" Gary hesitated.

"You don't qualify." Mindy said shortly. "This isn't a picnic."

Gary's face fell. "Uh… then maybe we better not go at all…"

"Great. That's even better." Mindy turned away, ignoring him completely.

Gary stared. "W-what happened to her? She never treated us like this before."

"Maybe you spent too much of her money?" Siti suggested.

Gary shook his head. "She didn't even ask about how much I spent."

"I think she's just upset." George consoled him with a pat on the shoulder. "It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the Flame Emperor getting hurt. Don't take it personally."

"But I'm a person, you know. How do I NOT take it personally?!" Gary protested.

"Just… don't mind it. If you're willing to do support duties, we could always use extra academic hands inscribing more scrolls."

Gary didn't seem entirely happy about it, but what else could he do? As Mindy said, their skills and abilities were dreadfully lacking for a raid like hers.

"If anyone starts moping around saying they need to get stronger, I'm going to throw a pillow at you." Gary threatened.

The others wisely held back.