Marcus jumped into the pilot seat of the Firestorm and flipped switches overhead to pull it out of its parking squat.

  "Multiple contacts bearing 132 closing in." Fenicks said.

  "I know." Marcus spoke forcefully.

  Layne having scurried into the gunner's chair, watched Ishild help the whelping off the machine’s palm. She and the rest of the crew scurried to take cover behind the far side of the burrow, taking the wagons with them.

  After they departed, Layne pulled the arms close to the upright's body, fists raised and clenched shut.

  "Infantry are being escorted by three Ironhide units." Fenicks continued.

  "How do they have so many of these things?" Marcus scoffed. He waited for the group to clear away from the Firestorm before straightening the machine's posture and pivoting toward the oncoming army.

  "What are we going to do about those, slap them around?" Layne grumbled.

  Arminius came in over the radio. "You're lucky Baldmund likes you. He found a little something while we were down in the depths."

  The Hastatus pointed to a spot on the ground in the tall grass flanking the road. It was the giant object atop the scaffolding in the Burrow warehouse.

  "How did he manage to get that thing out of there?" Marcus looked at Layne, who shrugged.

  The Firestorm squatted and reached down, tossing aside the thick mooring ropes that bound the mass of cloth to the object. With the flick of the arm, the Firestorm cast away the huge tarp into the distance.

  Marcus squinted. "It's a..."

  "Sword." Layne smiled. "A two-hander."

  "Turns out this Burrow was some kind of manufactory." Arminius followed up over the radio.

  "Analyzing weapon system." Fenicks said just after Arminius finished speaking. "Object is match-fit for currently equipped mounting system."

  Marcus looked down at the sheath. "A little too convenient how close we found these together."

  "They were probably producing weapons here." Layne manipulated the Firestorm's arm and reached for the sword.

  "Negative." Fenicks said over the intercom. "Weapon system is refurbished. Unlikely to have been manufactured recently."

  The Firestorm gripped the sword. As the arm retracted, the upright bucked and sputtered.

  "Thing is heavy." Marcus revved the engine to keep it from stalling.

  "It does need two hands after all." Layne moved to grip the weapon as such.

  After squatting and picking up the sword, the Firestorm stood upright, holding the blade up toward the sky. It reached far above the trees, likely the tallest thing for miles around.

  "Alert: Targets have entered firing range." Fenicks said.

  "Don’t get bogged down, we need to split up." Arminius radioed.

  Marcus pivoted the Firestorm. With each step it wobbled, threatening to tip. "Lower that blade, it's going to tip us over." He fought the controls to keep the machine balanced.

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  Layne dropped the arms and brought the blade forward, pointing the tip toward the enemy. The Firestorm stumbled forward.

  "That's not going to work either." Marcus spoke through gritted teeth, tugging on the joysticks to keep the machine from tripping and falling flat.

  Layne pulled back the arms and brought the blade to rest on the Firestorm's left shoulder. "I can’t make it any lighter."

  Marcus steadied the machine tilting to the left from the weight on the arm. He trembled, worried they were about to fall over. "I got it, we're good."

  "Get on the move or you're going to get pelted by those cannons." Arminius radioed. The Hastatus burst into a sprint to open distance from the Firestorm.

  "Warning: Infantry engaging. Our support team is drastically outnumbered. Odds of survival: low."

  Three columns of infantry, at least 150 total, marched toward the Burrow clearing down the road from the grasslands afar.

  "Let's take them out first." Marcus dropped the clutch and floored it.

  Just as the Firestorm burst into a sprint, a hail of cannonballs whirred past that the opposing artillery fired. One impacted, causing the Firestorm to stumble. The Ironhides also fired smoothbore cannons of a similar design to the wheeled ground units. They placed the weaponry facing toward the sky and began reloading, filling gunpowder from their wrist, plucking individual cannonballs mounted to their legs and using rods mounted to their arms to pack the shot.

  Marcus stood in his chair yanking on the controls to keep the Firestorm from falling over.

  "Minor armor plate damage detected." Fenicks said.

  "Not helpful right now." Marcus yelled as the upright stumbled diagonally, still moving forward but also falling toward its left side.

  "Counterweight, counterweight!" Marcus shouted at Layne.

  The Firestorm pulled the sword to the other shoulder and slowly stopped tipping.

  On the field afar, the Ironhides and artillery crew finished reloading, having turned their attention to the Hastatus that was quickly on the approach from their flank.

  "Son-of-a--" Arminius yelled over the radio as the Hastatus suddenly pivoted and ran perpendicular to the artillery firing line.

  Bursting into a sprint, the Hastatus charged into the distant forest just as the cannons opened fire. The upright avoided the attack, but trees tumbled and branches flew into the air as the Hastatus came crashing through the dense tree line.

  Small arms fire rang out, and individual infantrymen started falling dead. Atop the Burrow, Baldmund and Caeso took up a position firing at the infantry. Behind them, the mechanics furiously reloading both muskets and tonoascia.

  Not far from the artillery firing line, the infantry column closest stopped and pivoted to take aim at those firing at them from atop the Burrow.

  Marcus floored it again and charged down the infantry. But not before they fired off a volley at the top of the structure.

  Rushing head-long, the Firestorm crashed into the center column, sending groups of men hurtling across the landscape like ragdolls. The outer two flanking infantry turned and retreated at a steady but quick pace. The upright stomped and sent more men flying.

  "Warning: Within enemy effective range." Fenicks said over the intercom.

  "Get out of there, that was a trap!" Arminius radioed as the Hastatus yanked itself out of the forest.

  Marcus looked up with a grunt and saw the artillery line had closed in on them, ready to bear down all guns on the Firestorm. In a single volley the artillery and Ironhides unloaded.

  The impact sent the upright stumbling back and then fell prone, rolling face down.

  "Get up!" Arminius shouted, panicked. The Hastatus broke for the artillery line.

  The impact sent Marcus flying out of his chair. Layne, strapped in by the seat restraints bobbed and flailed around. A thick dust cloud settled on the area as the Firestorm slid to a stop.

  "Critical warning: Inbound attack in T-minus sixty seconds." Fenicks said.

  Peeling himself off the forward viewport, Marcus groaned. Layne reached forward, suspended by the restraints to help him up.

  "Forty-five seconds." Fenicks said.

  More small arms fire echoed out in the distance.

  "Climb, we got to get up." Layne grabbed Marcus by the collar.

  "Thirty seconds." Fenicks said.

  Marcus, out of breath but not winded by the impact, reached up and latched onto the gunner's console to pry himself to stand. He grunted and scaled the control panel, then pulled himself up to the seat.

  "Twenty seconds." Fenicks said.

  Marcus stood on the clutch and then jostled the shifter and hammered the gas. "Push us up." He shouted to Layne.

  "Ten seconds. Incoming. Brace, brace, brace." Fenicks said followed by a harsh warning tone booming within the cockpit.

  Pushing itself kneeling, the upright shimmied the legs under its body. The ground shook. He wrestled the controls as the Firestorm stumbled back. More dust and dirt flew into the air, creating a cloud that blocked out the sun.

  Through the darkness, a massive golden maw appeared inches from the viewport.

  "Fenicks." Aurufia spoke with a grizzled tone. "Where are my children?"

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