Inferno Ascended

When he looked up to witness General Chriseis's epic battle against Sillabot, Glax thought he was watching a scene worthy of appearing on a surround screen.

Under the thin, warm drizzle, the two Valosians could see black smoke rising from Sillabot's body. Fireballs dotted his blackened carcass, where incendiary projectiles were stuck. The flames spread over the oily surface.

Men climbed on the hull behind Sillabot, where he hoarded fuel for his furnace, his food. Those already there were holding ropes to help their companions climb. Glax didn't know if they had jumped into the rough sea for that, but it seemed the most likely.

If that was already impressive, what happened on the other side was even more shocking.

Many men pulled ropes that were attached to harpoons stuck in Sillabot's arm, coming from the hull of the warship but also pulled by the warriors. The ship's lateral was rising from the waves, due to the monster's contrary strength.

Sillabot raised his arm slowly, while the other limb was still returning from the motion of feeding his furnace with fuel. Ropes would tear or the ropes still attached to the giant robot would lift men, being thrown away and falling like rocks in the rough sea.

Some soldiers clung to the metal booms of the monster's arm, using legs, arms, shields, and spears to keep them together, while also focusing their efforts on damaging the wires that commanded the robotic limb.

The enormous monster snorted with its three-stroke engine, sounding like a locomotive. CHOO... CHOO... CHOOOO…!

Black smoke was coming out of his bowels in more frequent puffs. Sillabot was consuming a lot of energy, and its wet fuel was not efficient enough. Glax knew it because the mecha's movements were slower than the other day.

The robot didn't have time to react to the simultaneous attack - its heavy, patched body didn't have any hydraulic system that could make its movements easy and fast. Sillabot limbs didn't rely on pistons, but on wires. Not a really sophisticated design, because of its limited material available. But Glax could see it was in the priority list for Sillabot. 'He' was already transforming his body to adapt pistons to his limbs as well.

Sillabot's neck turned slowly, and his expressionless head seemed oblivious and useless, a mere decorative appendage. But Glax found it wasn't quite like that.

This was something that sent a shiver down the Valosian warrior's spine. Glax knew those empty eyes could see. At Sillabot's core, he felt the energy that lived in the robot_ intelligent, astute_ commanding and defending its fortress made of scraps.

Glax's gaze went to the four-fingered gripper _ hand _ that was now coming out of the furnace. Inside he could see the fiery glow of incandescent metal in the smoke. When his gaze went up to the top, he saw something that made him gape again.

Chriseis had just climbed the mecha's arm, and was clinging to the shoulder and arm joint. She had a shield and spear attached to her back, and he could easily see her red armor from a distance.

"She's crazy!"

Calculating for a moment what to do, the echelian general crouched down next to the space that exposed the joint. And removing the shield from the back, used it to slam somewhere inside. He knew she was aiming the boom hoist drum. The strength of her mechanical arm was frightening. Sparks popped from the creature with each potent blow she delivered.

"Genius!" She had understood the basics. And now Glax saw the general's succinct and efficient plan.

With a small but brave unit at her disposal, she intended to immobilize Sillabot. In fact, it was the best strategy to undermine the mechanical monster's strength.

If she managed to break the wires that moved his arm, Sillabot would have only the other limb and would have to divide his attention between feeding his own furnace and attacking.

At the same time, her men were struggling to prevent Sillabot from moving in other ways. As soon as they destroyed the second arm, Sillabot was technically defeated.

He felt ashamed for doubting the ability of the Echelians _ and Chriseis_ to defeat the mecha.

"GLAX! How about instead of drooling after your wifey, start acting?!" shouted Captain Laertes from his position up the castle.

Glax had barely noticed, but Medeia was heading straight for Sillabot, and so fast that Chriseis was getting less and less blurred. He forgot he wasn't watching the best VR in the world, but actively taking part in it.

Days ago, lying in his lonely bed, in the empty apartment, he wouldn't have imagined that days later he would be trying to destroy a mecha - albeit a mecha made of scrap metal - with a weapon of the Ancient Times.

But he was, actually.

As soon as they entered the monster's shadow, the noise, heat, and rotten smell emanating from Sillabot hit him like a punch. To his right_or whatever that direction called in nautical terms_ the war trireme continued in a tug of war against the mighty arm of the robot.

Glax wondered which one would win. He was sure that everything would end badly, but the men hanging from Sillabot's arm struggled to break the wires that commanded the limb.

But another push took him out of his ramblings. Malko was preparing an onager, and Glax went to the other.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Medeia officers preparing ladders, with which they intended to do something. What, exactly, he didn't know. He just remembered a movie where he saw ships accessing their enemies via bridges - basically ladders connected to each other. And that meant that Medeia would have to go much closer than two hundred meters.

What Laertes planned as Plan B?

Rasmus held a hook and a rope, and Glax just hoped that he knew what he was about to do.

"SIIIIIII…."

The creature took the hand that came out of the oven to its side, trying to sweep the little humans up its hull and attacking the large side blades that were the monster's 'fins'.

The men who reached the fins threw nets at the junctions of the body with the blades, an exposed part of the mechanism, jamming the movements of the large blades. Then they proceeded to destroy the blades with their shields and spears.

But nothing was that simple. Warriors were not used to dealing with machines, but with flesh and blood. The tiring work and the dangerous terrain caused the death of several of them. The mountain of scrap on the hull slid and the pile of debris rolled over the men, not always alert enough to escape. They fell into the rough and dirty sea, and Glax no longer saw them.

Likewise, some of the warriors clinging to Sillabot's arm fell from a great height; the ropes broke apart for enduring excessive tension, dragging men into the sea or throwing them against the monster. And there were also the exhaust chimneys and all the cracks in the structure of the giant robot, releasing boiling and pestilent steam.

Sillabot was nowhere near as agile, and his attempts to sweep the 'ants' attacking him had little effect. The robot could not simply crush them, as that would mean hitting itself.

Medeia reached the minimum distance he could with the freedom to escape if necessary. Glax took a deep breath.

At about two hundred meters, the smoky, incandescent mouth-hole was open, spitting sparks and fumes. Lightning streaked across the skies, clearing everything for a second. Enough time for Glax to feel his 'power' being activated again, against Sillabot.

Sillabot was angry, but he was also afraid. The thinking thing inside him was capable of feeling. Sillabot was an armor for what animated him.

The choppy waves made Medeia's bow go up and down, and Glax knew it was only going to get worse. It was time for the first shot.

"FIIIIRE!" He directed the first shot, releasing the lock on the onager lever. He saw the projectile describe a long, shallow parable, leaving a trail of smoke. His eyes burned as the first shot traveled the calculated distance. The second shot, fired by Malko in the second onager, followed the first. Glax held his breath expectantly.

Would his tactic work?