The dragon knight was healing quickly, thanks to a magic skill inherent to dragons. But she still couldn't fly all the way to the coast on her own. The only things we had capable of carrying something of her size were the command jet and Gemini-II. Since there wasn't an airstrip at Habberport, that left the dread-naughty. I had the airship brought over, and since I was going myself in hopes of opening some sort of dialogue, that meant we were rolling deep with choppers, jets, and nearly a thousand goblins who would accompany Gemini-II in some capacity and wait outside the walls.

Yes, it was a show of force. Even with an olive branch in one hand, it can be useful to have a big stick in the other, and the more visible the better. Let the Habberport prince decide which one he wanted. But it would take him more than a few dragon knights and mages to sweep us out of the jungles, hills, swamps, and plains of Lanclova. The interior of the continent that had rejected humanity? We'd flourished in it. Not smoothly, per se. But after a fashion. And we were much tougher than anything that had pushed the humans out before.

Dame Redfang watched the tilting turbine engines on Gemini-II as we crossed over the chilly mountain passes. We'd had to strip the lower deck in order to make room for her to board, and it turned the airship into something somewhat resembling a flying aircraft hangar. I had a thought of deploying jets, choppers, or bi-gliders from it. But there was little point since they were more efficient flyers on their own than the would-be flying aircraft carrier.

"These 'turbid engines'," she said. "They are like your rockets? No magic?"

"No magic, but different principle," I said. "They use compressors, like we use to bottle the air. Only these ones combine it with a fuel that burns quickly, and the resultant expansion of gas is expelled out the back. All the jets that engaged the dragon knights were equipped with them."

"Not unlike my own fire breath, then," she said. Her chest puffed, and I saw a series of slits along her throat and flank open up, along with the hiss of air. The slits closed, and small muscles along her chest and back tightened. She dug her claws into the deck, opened her mouth, and spat a bar of white flame out into the air, causing every goblin on the deck to squawk in alarm.

I held my own hand against the heat and the glare, watching as the equal and opposite reaction pushed Redfang back against her grip, as well. Interesting. I had assumed it was some sort of magic attack that only looked like fire breath. But she did seem to have a mechanical component that functioned similar to a compression chamber to build up internal air pressure. I'm sure an actual biologist would have been far more keyed in on the biomechanical intricacies than I was.

"Boss, boss!" one of the scrappers from my secretive service ran up to me. "Lookouts seen three dragons northeast, patrolling."

"If we've seen them, they've definitely seen us," I said. "Gemini-II isn't exactly subtle. Alright, let's go say hello. Dame Redfang, how are your wings?"

The dragon knight stretched them, twisting her own neck to look at where the membrane was kitting back together from where I'd hit her with a magic-seeking missile. Satisfied with what she saw, she strode to the front of the airship and launched herself into the sky. She still favored the side with the damaged wing, but she was at least airborne.

The other dragons approached warily, and some exchange passed between them before Redfang returned to the flight deck. Two of the knights stayed in our vicinity, while the other turned and flew back north to report.

"They are surprised and relieved to see me alive," said Redfang. "But understandably wary at sight of this fleet. We are to approach no further without invitation or chaperone."

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"Very well," I said.

It was some time before one of the dragons returned with clearance to continue under escort. Once down and over the lake, we were joined by several more dragons, and I began to realize that I really had only seen a portion of the mainland forces.

I had thought the space outside the city walls was being cleared and cordoned primarily to deal with the beasts and creatures of Lanclova. But it was also a mustering ground for auxiliary troops that simply wouldn't fit inside the city. I spotted camps of javeline mercenaries, ordered rows of tents belonging to soldiers, temporary stables, support groups, and supply points.

"Is this all for us?" I asked, heart thumping.

"It is all for the prince's interests in Lanclova," said Redfang. "But, after a fashion, yes. Habberport began mustering martial power toward the expedition when the Javeline were nearly wiped out. But the landed dragons weren't summoned until the elves stopped sending messenger birds. The prince would have sent out his legions sooner, but for the strange artifice that flew over the city. That stayed his hand, for a time, so that he might confer with his lords. But the rising star and the boost'ems falling on the city forced his hand."

Redfang looked up at one of the jets in high formation overhead. "The compromise was sending my clutch to reconnoiter. It's clear now that he was right to do so."

"It certainly wouldn't have gone well for anyone if he'd sent ground forces straight in," I said. I sighed. "It would have been a complete mess, and we never would have got things deescalated."

The airship pilot followed the dragon escort down to a clear area well outside the curtain wall. Troops were already mustering on top of it, manning the battlements and pulling cloth covers off what looked to be ballistae and trebuchets. Escorted or not, beyond the walls or not, this was still a ton of goblin artifice packed with blue, furry maniacs. The airship touched down, and goblins spilled out to stake down the corners as the pilot spun the engines down. Dozens of choppers set down near us, spilling forth hundreds of goblins. All of them were armed and armored, carrying rifles and ceramic plate vests.

Armstrong came up with a sparker, listening to a call from outside.

"Landin' zone is secure, boss. Your secretive service detail got it down. Trust. If the big jobs cause a row, get to one of the choppers."

"Very good, Armstrong. Nice work," I said. My scrapper chief beamed as I stepped past him, then he fell into pace behind me as we walked past a trio of orcs coming onboard to help goblins unload equipment. "I get why the Ifrit are here, but why is the Flock?"

Armstrong shrugged. "For the lark. Ain't ever boring where you're at, issit? Maybe they's lookin' to scrap."

I walked down the ramp beside the dragon knight and her mysterious, simpleton mage, still idly wondering what she'd meant by the phrase dangerous geometries. From this angle on the ground, most of what I could see of Habberport was the wall itself, broken occasionally by a black-tiled spire jutting up into the sky. The sky was, blessedly, clear. None of their wizards were summoning thunderstorms this time. Though, we had apparently flattened one of their towers. I could see its conspicuous absence on the skyline of the city.

My goblins weren't just securing a perimeter around the vehicles, they were erecting a temporary bivouac with material they hauled off the choppers and Gemini-II. Barricades, temporary shelters, a maintenance area, and of course, a kitchen. Goblins, orcs, and Ifrit in war forms took position throughout the temporary camp, making sure no stone went unturned and every meter of the wall had guns ready to be pointed out. Overhead, one wing of the fighters returned to Bluff Apollo for refueling while the other continued circling.

Beyond the temporary camps, the javeline mercenaries, and all the intervening territory, the gate on the walls began to rise. A delegation of some sort was coming out, a few dozen men on horses, and a landed dragon, as well. When they got closer, I could see that what I'd taken for a spare mount in fact had a diminutive creature high on a small chair aboard its back—an elf. I felt my lip curl up in disgust.

They had soldiers with them. Heavily armored men at arms with spears and shields that looked like they might be able to block a rockette from a small goblin rifle. But I had gunners on Gemini, and I could see the barrels of recoilless rifles and self-loading guns tracking their approach. All in all, we had nearly 900 goblins on the ground and another 100 still in the air above us. The humans might have been large, fast, strong, and high-leveled, but we still wouldn't be easily swept aside.

The delegation stopped maybe 200 chooms ahead of us, and I saw a wide shade erected. Most of the soldiers backed off to a respectable distance, leaving only what I had to assume was the unfortunate noble sent to bandy words with goblins.

"Well," I said. "Let's go meet the neighbors."

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