Five hundred miners filled the valley below Sunset Peak. Twelve stone Siege Golems stood behind them. Above all rose the Earth-Drill Colossus, a three-hundred-ton machine with a six-story cutter and six smoking boiler stacks.
Gu Qing watched from the palisade. “We could offer them tea.”
Elder Song stared at him. “Tea?”
“It has not worked yet, but our other plans have become strange enough.”
Tie Kuang used four brass horns to deliver his demand.
“Sunset Peak will surrender the vein, the workshop, and every bar of Stellar-Steel. The master smith will enter royal service. Director Kang’s contract is void. Resist, and I will take the mountain apart.”
Austin heard the distorted voice down the elevator shaft and climbed to the surface with his clipboard.
He had spent the last hour making presentable work clothes: blue canvas overalls, a yellow Stellar-Steel hard hat, clear eye protection, and steel-toed boots. “You don’t face an army looking like the guy who sweeps up after one.” Pug followed at his heel.
At the terrace edge, Austin looked over the Colossus.
His display showed an off-balance spindle, low gearbox oil, and weak seals.
“Who is in charge of maintenance?”
Tie leaned over the bridge rail. “I am in charge of everything here.”
“Then shut it down. Your cutter is out of balance, and your gearbox is leaking. Full load will break the drive.”
The miners closest to the machine looked at one another. They knew those faults were real.
Tie’s face darkened. “I did not come for a lecture from a boy in overalls.”
“No. You came to take a mine you do not own. The answer is no.”
Kang stepped onto the bridge with the water logs in his hand. “Grand Elder, the site is stable now. We have a supply agreement. There is no need for this.”
Tie struck the rail. “The Pavilion does not beg for output it can seize.”
Below, Senior Forge-Hand Zhao quietly warned that the boiler crew was tired. The Colossus had not had a full inspection after the march.
Austin heard him and pointed to the escape ladders.
“If you run it, clear the engine deck. Your people should not pay for your pride.”
Tie answered by striking the command gong.
“Full pressure. Bypass the safety seals.”
Kang grabbed his arm. “You will kill the crew.”
Tie threw him aside.
“Any worker who leaves his post will lose his wages and his family’s housing.”
The order spread through the machine. Men who had been ready to climb out stayed at their stations.
Austin’s expression changed. The argument was no longer about property or noise.
He turned to Xiaoyao.
“Hard hat. Emergency wedges. We are stopping the drill and getting those workers out.”