The Colossus had stopped turning, but it was still dangerous.
Austin sent Xiaoyao to guide workers down the outer ladder. Kang stayed at the engine hatch and counted heads. The miners outside lowered their weapons when they saw burned and coughing men emerging from the machine.
“Thirty-two on the lower deck,” Kang called. “Two missing.”
Austin climbed inside with his hard-hat lamp. He found Senior Forge-Hand Zhao pinned beneath a fallen pipe shield and another worker trying to free him.
The boiler above them groaned.
Austin braced the shield with his pipe wrench. “Lift on three. Not before.”
They pulled Zhao clear. The other worker had a scalded leg, so Austin carried him out. By the time they reached daylight, Kang had moved the rest beyond the marked steam zone.
No one cheered. The workers were too tired, and too many understood that Tie had ordered them to remain inside.
Tie Kuang jumped down from the bridge. His armor was dented, his beard black with soot. He still carried his two-thousand-pound warhammer.
“You destroyed a royal engine.”
Austin set the injured worker on a blanket. “You ran it past its limits. The gearbox was bone-dry. That’s basic mechanics, not magic.”
“You invaded Crown property.”
“I stopped your drill from hitting a water main. Then I helped pull out the people you threatened. The steel bar was just the closest scrap on the table.”
Kang stepped between them. “The contract stands, Grand Elder. End this.”
Tie looked at the five hundred miners. Some were helping the injured. Others had removed their Pavilion badges. None returned to the Colossus.
His pride would not let him see their choice as reasonable. He saw only disobedience.
“Golems forward,” he ordered. “Secure the vault.”
The twelve stone constructs marched toward the breach. Their bronze joints clanked, and red cores glowed in their chests.
Austin touched the grounding wand beside the power board. “Xiaoyao, keep the crew behind the yellow line. Kang, nobody goes back into that tunnel.”
The first golem reached the workshop. Austin caught its core with the grounded bar and dumped its magical charge into the earth grid. Its eyes went dark. It stopped without falling on anyone.
One by one, the other eleven followed. Austin shut each down and Xiaoyao marked its position for later recovery.
Tie watched his army disappear into first aid stations and his siege engines become inert stone.
He raised his hammer.
Austin set the grounding wand aside.
“Your workers are safe. Your machines are stopped. We can still settle this without another injury.”
Tie’s answer was a rush of crimson qi.
“No miner bows to a shopkeeper.”
Behind Austin, Kang quietly told Zhao to start a casualty list. He had a feeling the next report would need a new category for Grand Elder decisions.