Nieto looked down at the last line Eric had written. "I think fifteen percent. We can also start increasing either volume or what we trade."

Mcvaine looked at the contents of the agreement and shook his head. "You aren’t thinking of selling them vehicles, are you?"

Nieto nodded. "I am. If what Dryer told us yesterday is true, and the Empire is modernizing, then we need to have an ally on this world with some of the same capabilities. We will sell them older technology that can still be maintained and fielded. At this juncture, having allies that will not need to rely on us completely will make the push easier."

Eric nodded before opening his folder. "Sir, there is something you must know about the Empire. I told you before that they are modernizing. It seems that the pace at which they are modernizing is faster than previously anticipated." He slid the documents in front of Nieto.

"My wife and I were looking over the most recent reports, and we noticed these were the most recent pictures collected from ISR. Sir, they’re building long range artillery systems, and what seems to be better tanks."

Nieto frowned as he held one of the pictures up. He sat down and looked up at Eric. "How will this affect the war?"

"We don’t know the range of this new technology yet. Before, they could only target roughly around ten to fifteen miles from Esponia. Their anti-aircraft was successful in targeting one of the FA-18’s, but aside from that our main losses have stemmed from either the Llrathels, or their missiles. If they have upgraded those systems, they could deal a large number of losses."

Nieto rubbed his face in his hands.

"Would Patriot or THAAD be able to target the missiles?"

"No sir. They use mana as propulsion. Because of that, they do not fly in the upper atmosphere and do not act as regular ballistic missiles do. C-RAM would be able to target them, but other than that system, we currently have no way of destroying the missiles they send."

"Okay. Let’s bring the new agreement and this information to Riemskin and the Dragons. We will finalize this alliance, and discuss our next steps."

Eric opened the door, and led the president and cabinet members to the audience chamber. He took his place next to Mia, sharing a smile with her before the meeting began again.

"King Remory, here are our proposed amendments to the original agreement." Nieto said as he slid the documents to Remory.

"As you can see, we have only changed a few items from the original agreements. Please regard what we have proposed. We will standby for any clarification or questions."

One of Remory’s aides collected the documents before handing them to him. The king read through what had changed before putting the accords down.

"We have no problems with the operational or strategic plans outlined, but the monetary plans are not something I can agree to lightly. We already pay a substantial amount, and fifteen percent is no small number."

Nieto sighed.

"Your Majesty, the United States is willing to exchange better technology and vehicles in exchange for the increase. We are aware that your goals militarily will not always match those of ours, so we are willing to provide equipment and trainers in exchange for the higher price."

Remory set the papers down, looking from Eric to Nieto.

"Master Sergeant Dryer, you have been a close friend to the Riemskin alliance for over a year. I wish to know whether your loyalty to the United States of America will conflict with your alliances in Riemskin."

Eric sighed and stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I am a husband and father before I am a warrior. I fight for what I plan to build. Let’s build this alliance so that I will not have to choose between Riemskin or the United States."

Remory smiled as he looked up at Eric.

"Thank you, Master Sergeant. You have assauged our fears."

He then turned to Nieto, before looking at Tryasche.

"Dragon King Tryasche and President Nieto, I agree to the terms of these treaties. I have a proposal to codify these agreements. I think we should form a new unit under the 6-8 banner. This unit would be commanded by General Milano, and would be the forward unit in our push into Cartharic."

Tryasche rubbed his hand against his chin, his eyebrows arched.

"King Remory, I feel the need to remind you that we dragons are currently weakened from the long standing mana suppression circles. Our only capable forces outside of the elders with me are the young dragons currently in 6-8. It may be any number of years before the adult dragons are ready to engage in combat. I fear that due to our inability to perform at proficient levels, we may hold the alliance back."

Remory shook his hand.

"Dragon King, I do not wish to he rude, but I must disagree. I read the reports of what the young dragons have been doing with 6-8. They have become an integral pillar of strength under General Milano. An alliance does not mean each side has to produce equally. We are agreeing to help each other in time of need. This is the last frontier to avoid extinction, and rest assured I believe the Dragons will hold a large part of the horizon for a free world."

After the treaty was signed, Eric and Mia went back to their room. They lay in bed, too exhausted to change.

"I want to take this dress off of you and devour every inch underneath, but right now... I can’t move." Eric groaned. "God I hate politics."

Mia chuckled as she nuzzles against his chest. Her fingers ran gently through his hair.

"How do you think it felt to live in the capital for nearly thirty years." She said, laughing. "When I became the chief intelligence officer here, meetings like this were so commonplace I spent so little time in the field I thought I was losing my edge."

Eric laughed as he rubbed the back part of her thigh. "I think I lost fifty matches in a row to you before I got used to mana. If that was you ’losing your edge’, I don’t want to know how monstrous you were in your prime."

She smirked, kissing his head.

"I am back in shape, my love. Anytime you want to go, we can go."

His hands traced along her smooth stomach and up to cup her breasts. "Mm. I can see that."

Day two of the summit came faster than Eric wanted. He woke up in the morning and pulled Mia into his arms.

"You wore me out last night. Im an old man now, ya know?"

She laughed, kissing his bare chest. "Get up, old man. We have one more day of meetings."

After getting ready, he stood in front of the mirror, sighing.

"I can’t wait to take this damn monkey suit off." He grumbled while linking arms with Mia. They left their quarters and took their place behind the President’s seat.

President Nieto and the cabinet members arrived shortly after. Two aides took the documents they prepared for the meeting out. Nieto looked them over, and froze. His finger traced over a llrathel.

"Dryer, do these pictures look different?"

Eric walked up, looking at the document from over Nieto’s shoulder.

"Fuck."

"Yes sir. The Llrathel pictures do look different. Those have tracks and not wheels. Also, they look similar to an Abrams. I think they are replicating our technology at a faster pace than before."

"How?"

"I wish I knew, sir."

While Nieto and Eric were studying the new images, Remory walked in. He noticed the two men studying the images and walked over. "What seems to be the matter?"

Eric looked up at the king.

"Your Majesty, Cartharic is now fielding vehicles similar in size and design to what the United States has in it’s arsenal. I am going to message our intelligence and see if we can verify whether or not Cartharic is testing these new vehicles."

Remory stopped in his tracks as he looked at Eric. His smile dissappeared while Tryasche walked in. The Dragon King looked from Nieto, to Eric, and then back to Remory.

"I assume something happened?"

Eric was the first to speak.

"The Empire is now fielding vehicles similar to what the United States has."

The Dragon King sat down. He looked at his elders before closing his eyes.

"I see. It seems we still have much to discuss. Has your intelligence been able to capture other pictures?"

Eric nodded.

"Yes. Yesterday we were able to verify that they have a new artillery system. This artillery system is longer range. If the new system is even a fraction as capable of what we have, it would be able to target anything from Esponia to Hood Hill."

The room froze as the other world leaders listened to Eric. Trysache leaned forward, his eyes narrowd. "Tell me more."