Marcus stared and watched as the staggered line of enemy musket men afar on the dusk-lit grassland reformed their lines. They then took aim at the flat rocky outcrop where the upright tanks were staged.

  Another blare of the horn spurred a wild cry. A second enemy formation emerged from the woods behind the gunners, brandishing long pikes with metal tips that glinted in the light of the full twin moons overhead.

  Behind Marcus, the Adder roared to life, its dual smokestacks plumed thick smoke as its engine rumbled and sputtered. It stepped forward and its spindly leg with a rear-facing knee joint smashed into the ground, causing the mechanics to stumble and lose their footing.

  From the speakers embedded in the forward section of the bulbous hull, Amurad's voice boomed. "You like to hit and run? So do I!"

  A spotlight on the underside of the upright ignited and illuminated both the musket men formation and the lancers charging. The lancers wore mismatched dark brigandines and black leather boots, the musket men in dirty white uniforms with blue accents and open-faced basinet helmets.

  Just as Marcus recovered from the stomp which shook the ground, a shockwave from behind sent him stumbling forward. The cannon tucked between the Adder's steel lance and its torso opened fire just as the lancers passed through the staggered musket line. A blinding light caused Marcus to recoil. Then the shell's impact caused him to take cover, holding his ears and shutting his eyes.

  When the heart-rattling blast eased, Marcus recovered to find his eyes seeing the ghosted-white outlines of the two formations in his vision. He blinked rapidly in a panic, holding onto the front of the wagon to keep himself stable and upright. When his eyes readjusted to the darkness, it became clear that what remained of both the lancers and the musket men were in a rout, fleeing for the tree line.

  Amurad cackled as the Adder took another harrowing step. "Let's see how you like it!" His voice filled with delight.

  Then the engine chugged and sputtered. The thick plumes from its exhaust turned to small puffballs wafting into the breeze. Another buck caused the Adder to stumble forward clumsily before it stopped, and the engine whirred to a sudden halt with a hiss.

  Amurad emerged from the still-open hatch on the underside of the hull as the Adder fell into a resting squat. He threw himself out of the hole and across the narrow but closing gap between the hull and the ladder on the leg. Then the barbarian leader scrambled down the rungs.

  "Get after them, go!" Amruad shouted into the disheveled camp, stopping his descent for a moment to point in the direction of the fleeing adversaries.

  The barbarian leader rushed over to one of two horses that survived the skirmish and rushed up the hill, disappearing into the forest.

  As fast as the chaos of battle descended upon the clearing, it disappeared. Marcus's ears still rang, and his heart was ready to beat out of his chest. Still latched onto the wagon's railing, Marcus pulled himself upright. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his trembling legs. "Is everyone alright?"

  "Yeah." Layne called out firmly, pulling himself to his feet using the wagon.

  "I... I'm not hurt, I think." Simon called out meekly, still crouching behind the jump box with trembling arms holding hands over his ears.

  "Good here." Ekkehard replied briskly, standing upright, staring out at the forest.

  Marcus listened for Maximilian's voice, but only the sporadic cracks of gunfire in the far distance could be heard. He stepped around the wagon in search for the silent mechanic.

  Sitting on the ground, with the pieces of the fuel heater on his lap was Maximilian. He stared up at the now-silent Adder looming over the grasslands on the edge of the rocky outcrop, shivering.

  Marcus knelt and placed a hand on the mechanic's shoulder. "Are you hurt?"

  Maximilian sat in silence for a while before his head vibrated into a shake. "N—no."

  With a slow glance toward the upright, Marcus traced the mechanic's unwavering gaze, to be sure there wasn't some other looming threat overlooked. Finding nothing, he turned his attention back to Maximilian.

  "Can you stand?" Marcus held his hand out.

  Maximilian didn't acknowledge the offer. "That's my fault, isn't it?" He motioned by pivoting his elbow toward the motionless upright.

  Marcus kept his hand out in offering and sighed. He regretted not just doing everything himself. "It was dark, and things were hectic. I'm sure it will be fine." He bobbed his hand and nodded.

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  Maximilian hung his head. "That's easy for you to say."

  Marcus closed his eyes and shook his head, exhaling hard. "We have to get the cannon prepped and ready to fight again." He pointed up at the Adder. "Or we can make things worse by sitting here and sulking."

  Maximilian swallowed hard. "W—what should I do with this?" He wagged the fuel heater's parts in his arms.

  With two hands, Marcus motioned for the mechanic to hand them over. "We'll just put it on top of the jump box and fix it when it's light out."

  After handing the parts over, Maximilian then pulled his legs against his chest and hugged them, still shivering while rocking back and forth.

  Marcus placed the pieces atop the jump box and then beckoned Maximilian. "Come, we still have work to do."

  With hesitation, Maximilian stopped rocking and slowly unfurled himself, then got to his feet.

  Marcus turned to Layne. "We need another shell for the cannon, go grab one. We'll start getting it prepped to be loaded."

  Layne motioned to Simon, who had stopped cowering behind the wagon and since gotten to his feet. "Let's go." The two departed up the hill, away from where the fighting was happening, toward the baggage train from where the group had retrieved the jump box.

  "Ekkehard, grab the spare ropes under the wagon." Marcus turned to walk toward the Adder, but stopped to look at Maximilian, who was standing meekly and staring into the distance. "Hey."

  The mechanic jolted and looked at Marcus.

  "Help him get things sorted out." Marcus motioned toward Ekkehard, whom already was crawling under the cart.

  Maximilian nodded bashfully and then complied.

  Marcus marched over to the rungs on the Adder's legs and began his ascent. The stars on the horizon just above the forest were obfuscated by a plume of smoke and a faint light that filled the sky. A big fire raged afar. He reached the cockpit hatch on the underside of the hull and climbed in.

  Inside the cramped space was almost impossible to see, aside from the extremely faint moonlight which shined through the one-way glass of the hull. It revealed silhouettes of the control panels. Marcus felt around and slid into the cockpit seat. Instinctively, his hand reached for the joystick.

  His mind wandered to the cannon blast and immediately thought of putting Amurad in the crosshairs. Marcus's hand wandered toward the small side panel that contained the engine start up controls. He felt around for the keylet. Maybe in the chaos the barbarian leader forgot it there.

  His hand touched the cold metal of the upper ignition contact. Then his finger traced down to the bottom contact. Nothing was in between. Thoughts of Maximilian's wellbeing flowed through his mind, and he couldn't help but slam his fist onto the wide leather armrest.

  The keylet was a special piece of metal that unlocked the internal controls. It's why Amurad had no qualms with leaving a bunch of prisoners simply hanging around huge hulking war machines that could easily devastate his entire warband. Marcus tried everything to bypass the keylets on either machine to no avail. There was something special about the keys that Amurad possessed which kept the machines firmly locked down.

  Marcus stared out into the darkness and for a moment, his mind wandered to the day that he'd have his family's upright back. Marching along the plains, getting his family villa returned to him in his hometown of Lapis Meridia. Once he had that machine back, everything would go back to the way things were when he was young.

  "Hey, you alright up there?" Ekkehard hollered from the ground.

  Marcus scrambled to his feet and climbed through the hatch to the engine compartment. Then he stood and threw open the top hatch, pulling himself up and out. "Yeah, the trapdoor got stuck, probably need to grease it up later." He called down from standing atop the upright.

  From the pinnacle of the machine, Marcus saw the extent of the carnage. The small meadow of the clearing was turned to a swampy muck. Even in the moonlight, he could see the countless body parts from the two columns that Amurad blasted, peppered around the crater in the middle of the grassland, not far from the encampment. Battered corpses were strewn in a loose line leading into the forest. Marcus shuddered at the sight.

  He pivoted and turned to look at the weapon armature on the left side of the upright. The cannon barrel was lower than the hull, while the steel lance attached was slightly higher, in line with the midsection. There was a lock on the breach which would manually open it and allow the spent shell to fall out.

  Marcus walked over to the rear of the hull and lowered himself onto the breach, holding onto the angled section of the lance to keep himself from slipping and tumbling to the ground. "Throw the rope up here." He called down to Ekkehard.

  With half the rope bound in a large ring and tied together with a loose knot, the mechanic took a skipping start and threw the bundle of rope up. It flew high, up and over the lance. The rope ring smacked into the cannon barrel which Marcus caught before it slipped off. He untied the knot and threw the unspun rope down with it draped over the lance.

  "Opening the breach, stand clear." Marcus called down.

  Ekkehard stepped back, but then noticed Maximilian just standing there, so grabbed him by the shirt to get him out of the way.

  Marcus pulled out a long lever that was embedded into the top of the cannon. Leaning against the lance, he had to get enough pressure on the rear of the cannon to free the breach, but then also find a good spot to stand afterwards or end up falling through the gap and down to the ground. With both feet on the lever, he pushed with a deep grunt. It wouldn't budge. But he didn't give up. Sliding his feet higher, he pushed harder.

  Then a snap sent the lever suddenly flying toward the back of the hull as the breach loosened and slid open. Marcus held onto the lance in desperation as a hole twice his shoulder width opened where he once stood. He placed his feet down on the two top guide rails that guided the breach into the lock.

  Through the gap, the massive spent brass shell tumbled to the ground and slammed into the rock bed. Then it tumbled and started to roll. Ekkehard ran in its path and thrust his hands forward to stop it. The moment his skin met the brass, he retreated and spun, placing his shoulders against it with a sharp yelp. "Dammit, it's still hot!" He pulled his hands close to his body.

  The distant sounds of combat had long since died down. Now it was replaced with the stomping of hooves drawing near. Marcus spotted a lone horseman emerging from the forest.

  Amurad had returned.

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