Early the next day, Lia’s entourage prepared their departure from the city. She gave the now signed treaty papers to an envoy sent by Prelestia.

“I hope we will have a healthy relationship when I ascend the Throne.”

With those words she left the city of Destroia. Shortly after the city could no longer be seen behind the Unbreakable, Lia called for a meeting in the Command Car. Although they planned to take a different route from Charles, a confrontation was likely to happen, because of one big problem explained by Chelsea.

“Look at this map here. As you can see, shortly after the rails fork, there is a very sharp curve on the way to Raging Flame Fort. If Duke Prelestia did sabotage the Innovation with the objective of making it crash as he implied, then it was likely planned so that the wreckage would happen on this curve. Even if we take the straight path, leading to Oostburg, we will be close enough that an artillery attack from Charles’ forces could be a real possibility.”

Rommel regarded the maps displayed calmly.

“What if the Infected forces likely to have attacked the Innovation, per Prelestia’s implication, achieved overwhelming victory? They are unlikely to be a threat as long as we pass through at a respectable enough speed.”

Chelsea Immediately responded, without even looking back at Lia. They had likely already discussed this between them.

“Even then, we should still proceed with caution. The new Intel we obtained from Duke Prelestia along with what we discussed last time, all but makes certain the fact that there is some sort of intelligent leadership behind the Infected. With that in mind, we can’t just leave enemies to our rear. Usually, ignoring Infected as we pass by is normal, however, as you all know, on the way to Oostburg, we will be going through the Death Ridge, so called because it is located nearby the second biggest concentration of Infected inside Imperial territory.”

Franz wondered aloud.

“Under normal circumstances, that should merely mean Death Rains. If it’s just a bunch of Infected falling from above, then the Unbreakable is more than able to deal with that. However, there is something out of the ordinary…”

Chelsea nodded.

“If we consider that there is intelligent leadership behind the Infected, then we must consider that they will do things to slow us down, which could then cause a force that we left behind to caught up to us. That could be a dangerous situation.”

Captain Lewis put a hand on his face, lightly scratching his beard.

“So, what is the plan?”

The display changed to a more detailed map of the fork’s surroundings.

“We will stop the Unbreakable around here, little over one and a half kilometers away from the fork. Then, a force of fifteen knights and a hundred and fifty rangers, along with Lia and both Sword and Shadow, will advance to the expected wreckage site and engage any forces there. Captain Lewis will be with this force, while Colonel Rommel will remain behind to command any necessary defense of the Unbreakable, which will be put in stationary mode so that the medium cannons can be used.”

Rommel smiled.

“I am not sure whether I should be flattered by the amount of confidence the Princess has in me or nervous from the amount of responsibility that such confidence seems to drop on my shoulders. Can you really trust me so much?”

Extraordinarily, Lia addressed Rommel directly, intending to give him a morale boost.

“Do not worry Colonel Rommel: I know that you are competent. Reading through the facts of your fall, I am sure that nobody under the assumption that the Infected are merely mindless beasts could have achieved success in your place. Hold my castle for me with honor, as I go out to destroy my enemy. Bear this burden, for it is the greatest honor I bestow upon you!”

As he heard these direct words, Rommel knelled on the ground, looking down.

“Oh, such great words! I happily receive such great reward from the Princess, along with the honorable duty of guarding this place against any and all enemies.”

Lia nodded, happy with his answer.

Once the meeting was over and timetables for briefings were announced over the communications system of the Unbreakable, the soldiers inside knew that Destroia was truly behind. It had been quite a few generations ago that the first Mobile-Fortress Class Train which was almost completely self-sufficient was created. And yet, rarely would a candidate in the Great Race ever stay less than half a day in a city. The reasons were numerous: Winning over an influential person, preparing something against a rival that was still to arrive at the city, perhaps winning over some of the population of that city to replenish fighters lost along the way, but there was something else, perhaps much more important than any of those reasons.

As comfortable as a bed could be made for soldiers inside of a Mobile-Fortress, there was something of an edge, a sword that dangled above the soldiers’ heads while travelling. At any time, they could be called to fight and die, at any moment something could go wrong, and they all could die. Inside of a city’s walls, most of that feeling was dissipated: The men could leave most of their worries inside the Unbreakable and have some hours of true leisure to themselves. Perhaps they would seek to intoxicate themselves with some drug, knowing that they would have enough time to recover before an emergency might happen. Perhaps they would simply party, singing or dancing. Perhaps they would seek someone to share a bed with, according to their tastes.

There was a priceless part of resting inside of a city, necessary for the maintenance of morale, which was worth even paying in time, some of the most important resources in the Great Race.

Now, that feeling of safety and relaxation had completely died out: Soon, they would be asked to fight, kill and possibly die, either against other citizens of the Empire or against the Infected. Each situation meant a particular set of horrors, yet everyone inside the Unbreakable steeled themselves for it. Battle neared and soon the Holy Flame would be fed more souls.

Even before they approached the fork, a huge cloud of smoke could be seen in the horizon. It sent down chill down Lia’s spine. That was not the kind of smoke one would see just from the wreckage of a Mobile-Fortress. Even older models would have a multitude of fail safes to not cause huge fires or explosions, Lia couldn’t see Charles ignoring such basic safety protocols.

The Unbreakable stopped at a relatively clear of trees area. There were no signs of battle. Rommel ordered the remaining troops to expand the clearing so that the cannons could have a greater effective range.

Lia, along with the attack force, entered the forest but followed along the rails. A few minutes passed when Captain Lewis called for a stop.

“What is it?”

Chelsea asked, tense.

“I don’t like this. Look at that.” He pointed at a “path” in the trees, probably created by something big and strong enough to simply crush and push aside trees in its way. “It could be one of those Battery things we saw trying to break into Nessa, or it could be something-“

Boom. A distant sound of very heavy steps could be heard then something else, a hissing sound. Horror took over almost everyone’s faces.

“What?”

Inexperienced, Lia was confused for a moment. Chelsea grabbed her arm and shouted at the same time as Captain Lewis.

“Run!”

“Disperse! Watch out for the impact.”

Everyone scrambled to leave the position they were in at the moment, looking for as many trees as possible to be between them and the impending missile flying at them. At the same time, the heavy steps became more and more frequent, sounding closer and closer. The impact of the missile claimed no casualties, but it completely disorganized them, leaving them vulnerable to being picked off. Lia removed a small piece of shrapnel from her arm as a voice from speakers reverberated in the forest.

“Boom! Haha! How about them explosions little Lia? Are you prepared to be devoured by the flame?”

It was an easily recognized voice. It wasn’t so long ago that she had heard it. But this time it was full of an anger that she had never heard before, not even at the cafe in Destroia.

“Charles.”

She whispered to herself. A crushing sound of metal against metal, as well as something else could be heard. A huge suit of metal, at least seven meters tall burst into the clearing formed by the missile, in one of its arms was a blade with a Knight, along with a broken Mount, impaled on it. On the other arm were very sharp claws.

“That was too bad. You know, I didn’t necessarily plan for you to get killed after I was to become Emperor. I’m sure your hand in marriage could be quite the commodity. I underestimated you.” He paused. A whirring sound could be heard and the man impaled on the blade was cut in half, screaming in agony only for the first few moments. “I underestimated your ruthlessness. To think my sister would conspire with a disgusting Mutant. I despise you!” The robot stomped on the corpse of the man. “Come! Face the fruits of my genius and labor! You have ruined me! The Infected took everyone else, but with this I massacred every single one of them left, and I will destroy you. I. Will. Kill. You!”

The robot then started running into the forest, although not in Lia’s direction. Chelsea let out a sigh of relief.

“Good, he can locate us, but he can’t differentiate you from the others. Come on, we have to get out of here.”

Lia was pulled back by Chelsea, too shocked to resist if she wanted.

“He is coming this way, brace yourselves.”

Franz would say more, but the robot seemed to be there in the blink of an eye. He put himself in its way. The robot swung its claws at him, gripping his sword as he attempted to parry. It lifted him from the ground. The speakers on the robot’s shoulders blasted a voice.

“Oh, the one who was next to little Lia. Are you her Shadow? Perhaps Sword? Or just her boy-whore?”

The robot attempted to impale Franz, but he pulled himself and his mount up, effectively grappling the robot’s clawed arm.

“How about that?”

He turned up the heat of his free blade and tried to pierce the midsection of the robot, probably where Charles was. In reply, the robot tried to smash him on the ground. Letting go of the blade gripped by the claws, Franz winced in pain as he avoided getting splattered to the ground. It was always painful to disconnect parts. Instead of just falling on its back, as it seemed to be doing while trying to smash Franz, the robot rolled back, directing its head at Franz. It opened, revealing a small cannon. One word blasted forth.

“Burn.”

Three small grenades were launched from it. The first landed near Franz, the second near a group of Knights attempting to circle it, the last one was shot down. All three grenades exploded into huge fireballs. As he injected the first battle-stim to fight the pain, Franz slightly gagged from the smell of his own burnt flesh. The robot retreated, but there was no way Charles would simply run.

“Protect the rangers! It’s trying to flank us!”

Those infernal booming steps, the cracking of the trees. It was enough to shatter anyone’s resolve, but Franz mentally followed it. He made a mental calculation and silently apologized to the sacrifices he was about to make. I’m sorry. He would only flank the robot after it became distracted with attacking others. Soon the cracking noise sounded like it was from something other than trees. He advanced, and heard a voice shouting in the distance.

“Light the trees on fire! Our body heat is probably its primary way of locating us!”

Captain Lewis still had a clear commanding voice despite the situation. Franz took a moment to be amazed. As he passed a tree, the robot once again came into view. To its back was a trail of ranger corpses, around it were some five Knights trying to cut it. One was killed by an overwhelming overhead swing that he tried to defend, another lost her arm to a small plasma sword that appeared on the robot’s leg, a third one managed to leave a scratch to the midsection and was easily cut in half by the robot’s claws, the fourth had a clean swing of her blades and heavily damaged the robot’s head, the fifth Knight got no attacks in but managed not to get hit by another plasma sword from the other leg.

“I don’t mind it idiots! The heat will end you, but it means nothing to me!”

Multiple small vents opened on the robot. They expelled extremely heated air all around it. Most of the alive Knights were able to jump back, getting away with smaller burns, but the one who had lost her arm caught the full brunt of it and died. Multiple shots were heard at the same time, and many vents were damaged, being unable to close. Small progress, but does it even make a difference? It once again turned to him.

“Guess I’m bait again, so much for letting it get distracted by others.”

He gritted his teeth as the huge thing advanced at him. He dodged at the last second; trying to get some kind of swing in, perhaps heavily damage one of the arms. All he felt from his blade was an indestructible hardness colliding with it, and then he was kicked in the back by the passing robot. He crashed against a tree, making it fall on top of a nearby ranger. The robot stopped and turned back. Laughter echoed through the now burning woods.

“Hahahaha! You can’t do it! This is the ultimate war-machine. Not even a never before seen Infected like that weird girl can defeat it! You cannot defeat it! You will all die here! Then all those at that pitiful train will die, except for that bitch sister of mine. Oh, I will take my time with her.”

Charles’ voice was full of malice. Franz slightly trembled, groaning from pain and for a moment believed that such a thing might come to pass. He injected the second battle-stim to not pass out. He saw Captain Lewis along with some other Knights charge at the robot.

“Hold him for the others to retreat!”

That’s what he’s going with, I see. The Captain probably realized that further battle without the support of the Unbreakable’s cannons would be a waste of time and lives. If only they had known sooner. Franz thought he saw a Knight sent flying. More attempts were made at cutting some of its limbs, but nothing came of it, whether the attack connected or not. Once he had recovered himself, he rejoined the battle to hold him off. The robot retreated back slightly.

“Hah! You think this is much of a difference? Take a look at this!” Something opened on its back. The last three remaining missiles were launched. “With this much firepower I don’t even need to know exactly where they are!”

Things were really looking really bad, but Franz still held hope.

Back at the Unbreakable, things were looking rather gloomy. Even though no Infected appeared, the constant influx of wounded from the battle against Charles took a toll on everyone’s morale. Heat was one of the most efficient ways to deal with the healing measures used by most Imperial soldiers, which was of the reasons why it was so common in arms within it. The best way they could deal with it was taking prodigious amounts of anesthetics and waiting.

Standing inside the Command Car, Chelsea was somewhat relieved that at least Lia seemed to be over the initial shock, but something else worried her: Franz was still unaccounted for.

“That fool, he’s probably holding the line while everyone else retreats.”

Lia shrugged.

“I keep telling him that he’s no use to me dead, but I suppose it’s just in his nature to take these suicidal fights.”

The monotone voice irked Chelsea, but before she could comment on it, something else happened.

“Lady Shadow, it’s Captain Lewis and Lieutenant Baine. They have come back.”

For an instant, Chelsea completely lost her cool. Lewis wasn’t a guy to leave anyone behind unless they were goners, if he was back, he certainly knew how Franz was.

“What about Lieutenant Mann? They must have said something about him! Is he alive? Tell me, woman!”

Chelsea couldn’t see the terrified face of the controller as she was shaken. All she could see was a terrifying image of Franz’s corpse inside her own mind. A touch to her shoulder took her back to reality.

“Calm down, you’re not letting her speak.”

Lia’s calm voice was something of an anchor, which helped Chelsea get a hold o herself. She looked at Lia, then back at the still trembling woman before her.

“Oh, I, am sorry, please speak.”

The woman hesitated for a second. She almost looked at Lia, but looked down, then back at Chelsea.

“They say he was captured by the enemy, who should be appearing anytime now, you can actually hear its steps outside.”

Captured? Not killed? That confused Chelsea for a moment, but she soon decided that it was at least somewhat positive, even if things weren’t over yet. She felt much more focused now.

“Can you let us hear the outside audio? I want to hear what that asshole is going to say.”

She saw something pop up in the controller’s screen.

“Uh, I don’t think it will be necessary, Lady Shadow. The enemy is broadcasting his communications signal: We can easily listen to him without him listening to us.”

There was no reason to hesitate.

“Accept it.”

As the controller pressed the accept button, a sound of heavy, pained breathing could be heard throughout the car, it remained the only sound for a few seconds more, after which Charles’ now hoarse voice, interspersed with panting, could be heard.

“I wonder if that stupid bitch is already listening to this, I hope she is. Well, in case you are, here’s how things are going to go: I’m walking to you right now, dear little sister, with that guy who was with you at the cafe in one of my prototype’s claws. I can easily turn him into many smaller pieces, now, what shall you do?”

His voice returned to merely breathing.

“He can’t be serious.”

Panic had returned to Chelsea’s voice, but she still had not lost control again. Her fears were confirmed as visual from one of the Unbreakable’s cameras showed that same infernal machine holding Franz, along with his mount, in its claws.

“He’s bluffing. Just shoot it and let’s be done with it.”

Lia’s voice was ice cold.

“What?”

Chelsea could not hold back the shock in her voice. Did she not actually care about Franz at all?

“He’s not going to do anything to Franz. We should shoot him.”

Chelsea’s thoughts became a jumbled mess. She wasn’t sure of what was going on and felt like she talked on instinct.

“How can you say that? Listen to him! He’s obviously dying! Just stall him with talk or something! He is probably pumped full of drugs that must be wearing off now.”

Lia shook her head.

“He won’t stop to listen. We have to do something he doesn’t expect. If we let him do as he wants, there’s no telling what kind of damage that thing could do to the Unbreakable.”

That just made Chelsea get more agitated, enough that people around seemed to become uneasy.

“What? This is insane! He could kill Franz anytime! We need to distract him!”

“Shooting that thing is a pretty good distraction.”

“You’re not thinking straight! What if it hits Franz?”

“No, you aren’t thinking straight, Chelsea.”

Something broke inside her. Chelsea stood there, wordlessly staring at someone who she considered somewhat of a friend. Yes, she was Lia’s Shadow, which afforded her some intimacy, but traditionally most Shadows and Swords were close friends of the candidate to the Throne.

“…”

Standing somewhat awkwardly, Colonel Rommel looked at one then the other, unsure of what the ultimate decision was. Since Chelsea wasn’t saying anything, Lia said it herself directly to Rommel.

“Shoot it.”

In moments the order was relayed a shot connected with the robot. It stopped walking and merely dropped Franz to the ground. The heavy breathing became a laughter, which was quickly interrupted by a fit of coughs.

“You really did it. You really shot me. Man you are one cold, ruthless bitch.”

Lia turned to Chelsea.

“See? Merely a bluff.”

Charles spoke one last time in the communicator.

“You beat me. How about one last chat face to face, eh? I could drink a gallon of tea right now. I think this thing’s cooling has been broken for a while now, man, is it hot in here. Well, I will be shutting this down and leaving the prototype now.”

With that, the feed was cut. Lia still spoke coldly.

“Let’s go.”

Once again, the two candidates to the Throne looked each other in the eye, but this time things were completely different. Charles, in a modified Knight’s light armor, was completely haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, his nose and ears were bleeding, and his blood mixed with his sweat. He was ruined. On the other hand, Lia looked impeccable, some might say she looked imposing. She may have had many casualties, even deaths, among her forces, but she stood victorious.

“You know. I first wanted to at least give you a piece of my mind, even if I lost, but right now it doesn’t feel like it matters. Could you at least give me a decent death? Maybe a shot in the middle of my eyes? I hear you’re quite the good shot.”

There was no urgency to his voice. He sounded more tired than anything else.

“Do realize what you’ve done to my subordinates? You deserve to rot alive.”

There was no emotion to what Lia was saying, but she looked resolute. Charles just shrugged and fell on his back to the ground.

“I see. Damn, dying of overdose like that is pretty lame. My brothers always said I was lame, maybe I deserve a lame death like this.”

Lia said nothing. She was about to turn back when she heard a shout.

“Bridesmaid!”

It was another girl, but the cloth style could not be confused for anything else.

“Shoot her!”

Lia quickly looked at her, then at Charles, soon to become a corpse.

“Forget her, shoot him!”

As the ranger next to her just looked in confusion, Lia rolled her eyes and quickly grabbed the sidearm on his holster. She aimed at the same moment as the Bridesmaid gently lifted the now very unresponsive Charles and opened her mouth. Lia emptied the gun on Charles’ head. The bridesmaid hissed at her and threw something. Fortunately for her, she ducked in time, for these thrown claws made quite deep scratches in the plating of the Unbreakable. The bridesmaid seemed to not want to fight and easily escaped. None suggested following her.

Lia walked briskly through the Unbreakable with Chelsea silently following behind. She stopped briefly to talk with Colonel Rommel.

“Prepare for departure. As soon as all the injured have been given a bed to lie on and their life is not in danger anymore we are leaving. The Infected know we are here and the state we are in. Every moment we delay is more time for them to prepare.”

The Colonel merely nodded in response. After that, she made her way to her room. As she neared it, she gestured Matarazzo, the chamberlain, away. As the door was closing, Chelsea seemed to wake up. She realized that this was the moment she was waiting for. If they were alone, there was no need for worrying about Lia’s position: She could truly give her a piece of her mind. She would let out those confused feeling and get some kind of satisfaction. Lia was the princess, yes, Chelsea was her Shadow and would be nothing if not for that, yet Chelsea needed some kind of satisfaction. How could she keep on protecting someone who she couldn’t trust?

Yet, as she tried to speak, she was forestalled by a Lia who fell to her knees in front of her, tears streaming down her face.

“I… I’m sorry… I can’t… I didn’t mean for things to turn out this way…” Instead, the one who spilled her feelings was Lia. “I have to be strong… I have to be calm, and lead… But at the start I couldn’t do that… I had to… I had to… Show some kind of decisiveness … I have to show that I am good enough… that I care about those who follow me… that I won’t hesitate to choose the best course of action… even if it’s cruel. Please… at least you… you have to understand me…”

She hugged Chelsea’s legs, sobbing all the while. All of the other words melted inside of Chelsea’s heart. She couldn’t say any of the things she wanted to moments before. It felt like if she did, Lia might break. Chelsea knew that even apart from any kind of calculating self-interest, she just didn’t want to see such a thing happen. She gently put her hand on Lia’s head and lightly stroked it. She smiled as tears started flowing from her as well. She spoke tenderly.

“You’re so selfish… So much that you won’t even leave any kind of spiritual burden on anyone else. You know that I will always be by your side.”

Lia went silent for a moment.

“Of course… I can’t be Empress if I'm not at least this selfish…”

Lia looked up at her.

“Ok, ok. I will forgive you, but please don’t act like that again; it was weird… and scary.”

Lia looked down again.

“I’m sorry… Also, could you go take a look at Franz for me, please?”

Chelsea wiped her tears with her hand.

“Of course! Even if you didn’t ask me, I would go anyway. Just let me wash my face.”

As his condition was among the worst, Franz was at a special cabin. Arriving there, Chelsea met with Captain Lewis, who was just outside, sitting on a sofa in the waiting room.

“How is Lieutenant Franz doing?”

She peeked through the glass. He still seemed to be unconscious, with a gas mask on his face and various monitors.

“He will live.” The two were awkwardly silent for a few moments more. “You know.”

“Yes?”

Lewis took a moment to continue, perhaps considering if his question truly should be asked.

“I’m not second guessing the princess or anything, but. Why is Lieutenant Franz the Sword? Yes, he is an exceptionally strong fighter, but he is much more defensive minded and prone to cover and protect others. On the other hand, aren’t you the more aggressive one? In all of your sparring I saw, you rarely ever bothered defending. I’d even go s far as to say that one of the reasons you really struggled with that bridesmaid that time was because you don’t seem like the kind of person to be too comfortable on the defensive.”

Chelsea couldn’t help but show a smug smile.

“Hmm. So the great captain, Richard Lewis, cannot see what the princess sees. What a shame.”

Lewis returned an awkward smile and shrugged.

“You can mock me if you want, I’m just honestly curious about this.”

Chelsea assumed an air of superiority as she spoke.

“Lia has said we are perfect for our respective roles, because she thinks I would be too reckless as the Sword, while Franz would be way too worried and paranoid as the Shadow. Also, Franz’s meticulous nature makes it so he only performs his assassinations with a complete certainty, while my impulsiveness is perfect in that it makes me not think before I destroy any potential threat to Lia’s life. Genius, is it not?”

Lewis nodded understanding, and then suddenly turned much more serious.

“I’m glad you seem to enjoy a healthy relationship with the princess. I’m not sure if you have any idea of how lucky you are.”

Chelsea was taken aback.

“What do you mean?”

“This is definitely not a threat, since it’s completely out of my hands. But there were people, even Shadows and Swords, who were executed for less than what I have heard you said in the Command Car. The princess is the humblest member of the Imperial Family I have seen.”

Chelsea wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be offended at that, so she simply answered.

“I know that, it’s why she should become Empress.”

Lewis stood up.

“Anyway, you came here to see Lieutenant Franz, not ugly old me, I suppose, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”

He gave her a light tap in the back as he left. She did not respond.