Tarnished Chapter 37 (Patreon)

John found the wayward Peacekeepers along with Travis in the artificer’s storage yard. The group looked a little worse for wear and were using a nearby water pump to splash cold water over their reddened skin.

“Everyone ok?” John asked.

“Just a bit burned,” Blackwood replied, flicking his arms to knock most of the water off. “Seline, why don’t you head to the Doc and get that cream?”

The woman nodded and stood, but unlike the Sheriff, she simply let the water drip off her arms. She looked a little redder than the Sheriff so it probably hurt to move too much. Seline paused as she walked past John. “I’m glad to see you survived.”

He gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement and she hurried off to treat her burns. The Sheriff waited until she was out of sight before speaking. “I think she’s beginning to understand that the only law out is is what we can enforce.”

John nodded. “Better late than never. How did the fighting go?”

“Not great. We did manage to take out those six armored suits, but the walker isn’t exactly maneuverable within the city.” The man turned to look at Travis before turning back to John and lowering his voice. “And there are only two people who can pilot it. If we lose either one, I fear we’d be in serious trouble.”

It was an issue that had plagued John since he first laid eyes on the contraption. The automatons, while useful, required someone with specific skills to operate them, making their usefulness suspect at best.

“Travis!” John yelled to the artificer who had his entire head under the flow of water.

“What?” the man asked without taking his head from under the pump.

“Any way you can train people to pilot the walker?”

The man scoffed. “It takes months to learn to operate complex steam systems. And why would I train someone else to operate my walker?”

John turned back to Wyatt and the man sighed. “I should have expected that. What about simplifying the controls?” the Sheriff asked.

It sounded like Travis was going to scoff again, then stopped mid-scoff. The man spluttered as water entered his open mouth causing him to stand upright and cough. They waited for the absentminded man to get his fit under control. “Ahem… Now that you mention it, there might be a way. I had been pondering this possibility when I first installed those clockwork helpers in my shop.”

“So it is possible?” Blackwood asked again.

“Well, maybe. It's not going to happen today though. Or anytime soon. I would need to build all the parts and test them.”

“Can’t you just use something similar to the auto-carriage?” John had seen ordinary people operate those things. Surely it couldn’t be too hard.

Travis turned to look at him like he was an idiot. “No. Those are low-pressure steam systems. They don’t require constant monitoring to make sure they don’t explode. Besides… It would require the use of more of the stuff you gave me.”

“What's he on about?” Blackwood asked.

John sighed and rubbed his forehead. He should have realized the flaky artificer couldn’t keep the secret long. “He’s talking about the crystals that Jacob and his group were mining. It's what powers the automaton armor.”

“And also what I used to power the walker during the attack,” Travis added proudly.

“I told you to keep that quiet.”

“Excuse me for improvising. It was the only thing powerful enough to run the walker and both artillery pieces without completely redesigning the boiler or weighing down the walker with a ton of coal.”

“So let me get this straight. You powered the walker with a piece of crystal?” Wyatt asked, understandably confused.

John couldn’t blame him, he had no idea how it worked either.

“It was a very special crystal,” Travis stated.

“Ok… I’m all for using the enemy's weapons against them. How do we get more? You said each of those armored suits had them. Let's rip them out.”

This time the artificer looked at Blackwood like he was a moron. “That would be a very bad idea, Sheriff. Unless you want to stick your hands in a superheated slurry only for the crystal to shatter the moment you retrieve it.”

“You assured me these crystals were safe, Travis.” John had an urge to punch this guy.

“I said they were safe enough to handle with gloves and a mask. Once you activate them though, all bets are off. There’s no turning them off as far as I can tell. Not without destroying them at least. It’s a good thing I made my test chamber easily detachable so it could be transferred to the walker. And it’s a good thing I work quickly. The pressure build-up would have caused it to explode after ten minutes, but that’s more than enough time to connect it to another boiler.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” the Sheriff shook his head, “But since we can’t get them from the suits, how do we get more?”

“Perhaps I can help with that,” a familiar voice added.

John turned toward the new speaker, his gun already in his hand. But Pappy was just leisurely leaning against the gate, another random block of wood in his hand being slowly carved away.

“How did you get past the Harc’otti?” John asked, narrowing his eyes.

The elder patriarch of the Klein family snorted in amusement. “Those idiots couldn’t form a proper siege if their life depended on it. I simply killed one of their people, donned their clothes, and strode into the city like I was going for a Sunday stroll. They didn’t even bother stopping me. I did have a bit of trouble avoiding your men on the roofs. Good on you for that,” The man pointed the little knife he held toward the Sheriff.

“So now you’re trapped in here like the rest of us,” John stated dismissively.

“Hardly,” the man stopped leaning against the gate. “I’ll leave when I please. And those Harc’otti bastards won’t be able to stop me.”

John rolled his eyes at the man’s claims. “Let's say I believe you. How exactly can you help?”

“That’s easy,” Pappy smiled. “I can help with your little rock problem.”

John narrowed his eyes. “You were listening in?”

“You three aren’t exactly quiet, and I’ve been standing here this entire time. Not my fault you never noticed.”

“Don’t fool yourself, Pappy. I noticed.” Everyone turned to Travis. “What?”

“If you noticed… why didn’t you say anything?” John ground out.

Pappy laughed. “It's because he likes to ignore the fact that I exist. Isn’t that right, Cousin?”

“Hardly!” Travis yelled. “We’re barely related, and that’s by a marriage three times removed from a side of the family we excommunicated a long ago.”

“A lot of fancy words, Cousin. That doesn’t make us any less family though. We’re still blood-related,” Pappy chuckled.

“Pah,” The artificer waved dismissively.

“Dammit! Is everyone related around here?” He would have thrown his hands up in exasperation, but he still had his gun leveled at Pappy.

“Don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical,” John shot Travis a glare when the man began to speak up. Then he turned back to Pappy. “So you have more rocks? Prove it.”

The man reached into his pocket, pulled out a small leather sack, and tossed it to John. John snatched the small bag out of the air.

“I probably don’t need to tell you. But careful how you handle that stuff. It's not good for your health.” Instead of opening it and taking his eyes off the shifty patriarch, John tossed it to Travis. Pappy chuckled at this.

Travis barely managed to catch the bag, and it took him a moment to undo the tie before pulling the top open. From the corner of his eye, John could see the signature glow of the crystals. But even if he hadn’t he could still see the gleam in Travis’ eyes and the huge smile that was blooming on his face.

“You have more?” The artificer asked, his earlier hostility completely vanishing.

“Maybe,” Pappy responded noncommittally. “For the right price that is.”

“And what would that price be?” Blackwood asked.

Pappy produced a piece of folded paper from his shirt pocket and stuck it between two boards on the wall before stepping back.

John grunted in annoyance and put his gun away. There was no way the man was going through all this nonsense just to harm him or the others. He didn’t believe the man’s story of how he entered Ember Creek, but that was a separate issue. He thought maybe the man had sold out to the Harc’otti but offering them more soul stones changed his mind. He still didn’t believe the bullshit about walking in. That was just pure insanity. And the man wasn’t dressed like a Harc’otti warrior.

He walked over and snatched the folded bit of paper from the wall before opening it and reading it. “What is this?”

“That’s my price,” the man smiled slightly.

“I get that. But this is ridiculous and I don’t have the power to make something like this happen.”

“What is he asking for?” Blackwood strode up next to him and John handed him the paper.

It took a moment for the Sheriff to understand what was written on the sheet. Not because the man was slow or anything, just that the request was that insane. “You want to be recognized as a sovereign nation? What is this nonsense, Pappy?”

For the first time since this encounter, Pappy frowned. “It’s a perfectly reasonable request. I would appreciate it if you treated it with the respect it is due.”

“Fine, let's say this request is reasonable. How do you expect John or I to make this happen? You think the Fareen government will sit back and allow you to claim the land you purchased and everything west of it to the mountains as your own territory?”

“You let me deal with the government, when they finally bother to show up. All you need to do is record this at the town hall. Simply state you encountered Kleinland as an established nation before Ember Creek was founded.”

Kleinland? Of Course, the man would name it after his family.

“Nobody’s going to believe this,” the Sheriff stated.

“Not your problem. But if you want your fancy glowing stones, that’s what I want in return. So what’s it gonna be?”

“Do we really need to entertain this insanity?” Wyatt spoke quietly to John so Pappy couldn’t overhear.

“We do if we want any chance of defeating the Harc’otti.”

Blackwood grunted and turned back toward Pappy. “Fine, if you want to butt heads with the government, that’s on you. But I won’t be signing anything until you deliver.”

The Klein patriarch smiled and clapped his hands. Two men carrying large burlap sacks walked through the gate before dropping the sacks on the ground. John didn’t need to untie the bags to know what was inside. He could see the glow through the holes.

“Ask and you shall receive. Now, let's go update those records, shall we?”

Now he knew the man’s story about walking through their lines undetected was bull. The question was, how did he get into town, and was that something John could use to his advantage to sneak behind enemy lines?