“Yes…it was not as satisfactory as I’d hoped it would be.”
Sixty-Two demoted Captain Bellevue and ordered him back to the base camps in Sunside. There, his ferocity would be warranted if another invading force came from the Twilighters.
Sixty-Two surveyed the carnage with unease. The humans had been heartless before. Now, he had given them good reason to continue in that vein. This had not been his intent. He’d believed he could show the humans he was dangerous, and they’d best leave them alone. He’d thought by showing they were strong enough to defend themselves when attacked, they might work out a basis for a truce of sorts. Now, however…
He kicked at a child’s doll. The limbs were all missing, and there was blood darkening the street below it. Sixty-Two wondered how this would all end.
Realizing he’d started a war, and would need fresh troops, he headed to the mech charging bays and shut-down pens. He freed the mechs there-or rather, he became their new master.
Two days after the massacre at Dolleren, Nina Droad found herself on the town’s High Street with eyes drawn to slits. She sat on her mount and glided slowly through the town, absorbing the scene. She’d seen the vids already, of course. The mechs had swept into the town in an organized force and brushed aside the paltry defenses. Then one group of them had begun a senseless slaughter. The images of a mech chewing on limbs was particularly disturbing. The technicians could not fathom how their conditioning had been so perverted. Was there a virus involved? Could a destructive group be behind the rebellion, bent on anarchy?
Watching the mech commander and the cannibal mech discuss matters in the street, Nina had her own suspicions. The commander wasn’t happy with the cannibal, that much was clear. But how could a mech underling do anything other than what its master demanded of it? The only possible answer was that a number of the mechs were free of their conditioning. For whatever reason, they were thinking on their own and doing as they pleased. Perhaps the cannibal had been a gourmet in his past life, and now enjoyed sampling the meats of other sentient beings.
None of that mattered. What did matter was the clear implication that these mechs were striking back as a reprisal for what she herself had done. She understood that, looking down at the corpses organized in stacked transparent caskets for burial.
When the summons came that evening to attend to the Ruling Council of Lords, she was not surprised. They had taken longer to contact her than she had suspected they might.
The formalities went on longer than before, it seemed to her today. She stayed stony-faced through it all, giving away nothing of her internal feelings of guilt and remorse. The mechs had struck the first blow, killing her beloved Leon. She had responded by killing hundreds of them in turn. Now, they’d slain half a town. Where would it end? Who would strike the final blow?
She straightened in her chair and faced the vid pickup. Do not reveal even a hint of worry, she told herself sternly. There was only one option open to her now, only one direction in which she could attempt to guide the council.
“Baroness,” Duchess Embrak addressed her, “so kind of you to meet with the council.”
“It is my pleasure,” Nina said. She did not roll her eyes and add: as if I had any choice.
“We shall see,” said the Duchess ominously. “Would you report to us the results of your latest activities?”
Nina paused. “I have not made a move with my forces. We are still gathering strength-”
“Are you not now standing within the ruins of Dolleren?”
“Yes, madam.”
“Then tell us what you are doing there.”
“Another mech raid has occurred, milady. Unfortunately, we were not able to get here in time. But rest assured, the mechs will not get away with this massacre. They will be punished resoundingly.”
“Punishment is not enough. These attacks must stop.”
“Indeed. And they will stop, once the rebellion is stamped out forever.”
Duchess Embrak glowered at her. Nina resisted the urge to smile faintly in return. She knew the Duchess had not intended the discussion to go in this direction. It was supposed meant to be a witch-hunt-with Nina playing the starring role as the witch.
“Let us discuss the root of the matter,” the Duchess pressed onward. “The war has escalated due to your actions. What had been a few minor incursions now has come to this-a town of innocents slaughtered.”
Nina feigned surprise. “Do I hear rightly? I’m being blamed for the actions of insane mechs? May I refer you to vid clip sixteen-”
“There is no need-”
“I ask the council to view the clip, as it is critical evidence.”
There was murmur of support from the council. Duchess Embrak looked annoyed.
“Very well, play it,” she said.
The screen lit up with the towering figure of a mech. He stood over a dying civilian, plucking away limbs and thoughtfully chewing on them. Every councilmember gasped and muttered.
“I fail to see how this atrocity-” began the Duchess.
“Thank you!” Nina interjected. “That is the precise word I was hunting for. This atrocity was committed by a mech mere hours ago, while I built my army many leagues away. Yet somehow, this is my fault? I could understand accusing the mech’s conditioners for drunkenness, but this-”
The councilors muttered with increasing volume as she spoke. Finally, a voice broke loose from the others: “No Nina, it was no fault of yours! Metal beasts, they are!”
“Thank you,” Nina said, but she did not take her eyes from the Duchess.
For her own part, the Duchess seemed to realize she was losing sway over her own council. She swiftly changed tacts. “Very well-stated. I am in complete agreement, Baronness. Now, let us proceed to our next step.”
“Which is?” Nina asked.
“Why, aren’t you going to tell us? This is, after all, your war my dear. You wanted it, you have it, and now you must lead us to victory. Tell us your plans.”
Nina sat as tall and straight as she was able. In her face, she felt her pulse pounding. She hoped she wasn’t blushing. “I need more troops. I require more money to gather them. Twice again what I have been given-as a beginning. The problem is much larger than I had hoped it would be. The mechs number in the thousands. They will slay us all in our beds. Today it was Dolleren, but tomorrow it may well be Lavender City or Shadeton.”
Many of the lords present lived in the affluent cities she listed, and there was a renewed level of sound from the councilmembers.
Duchess Embrak raised her fine-boned hand. “Fear-mongering isn’t appreciated here, Baroness. You list absurdities.”
“Fear-mongering? Perhaps then, you can tell me what I should do with the army you asked me to raise. Should I march into Sunside and surrender to the rebels? Should I disarm and take up crooning with lake-fish? Or is there some other form of appeasement you would prefer?”
The Duchess licked her lips. “No,” she said.
Nina said nothing further. Both women saw clearly that the Duchess had been outmaneuvered.
“Very well,” said the Duchess, after taking a moment to recover. “I move that we accept Baroness’ Droad’s request for further support. Let her raise her army. Who seconds my motion?”
A half-dozen hands shot up. The motion was quickly carried. This time, Nina watched as the Duchess’ thumb turned up. This, more than anything else, made her start to sweat. What new variety of trap was this witch laying for her now?
“Before we leave you to your critical work, Baroness, I wish to make one point crystal clear. You have promised to end this rebellion, have you not?”
“Uh,” Nina said, pausing. She recovered quickly. Every eye was on her. She had no choice. “I will stamp it out. There will be no mech with two metal struts to stand upon in all of Sunside!”
The Duchess nodded quietly. Nina thought she saw a tiny smile playing on the evil woman’s lips. What was her plan?