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Steam Rising
Several days later...
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Well?
- Sarkaz Mercenary
Inventory check. This lot of factories has handed in its designated amount of material.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Excellent.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Ms. Catherine, as you know, taking on Londinium's hundreds of factories and ensuring their smooth operation is by no means a simple feat.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Thus, my only option is to personally see every handover completed.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Some unpleasantness always comes part and parcel, but this handover, out of this final set of factories, has been the smoothest.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
I must thank you for your willing cooperation, and for sparing me so much time.
- Catherine
I just don't want to do anything that'd be of no avail.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
I admire your attitude, Ms. Catherine.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
But I'm afraid your heart of hearts doesn't agree with you.
- Catherine
You mean...?
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
I hear a few days ago, some workers fled your factory. Being the case, I'd like to take stock of personnel while I'm here, and have a look at your factory's names.
- Catherine
......
- Catherine
...It was my grandson who ran.
- Londinium Worker
Catherine...
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Oh?
- Catherine
Young 'uns tend to do without thinking.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Very plain-dealing of you, Ms. Catherine, but frankness alone will not quell this matter.
- Catherine
Sir, I can't guarantee you everyone under me is of one mind. I don't have that capacity.
- Catherine
I can only guarantee this factory hands in its designated material quota.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
......
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Could I ascertain—are you asking me to let him go?
- Catherine
He's a single tyke, every hair on his head out of place. He's hardly going to affect this factory's operation.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
But you could.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
I've heard about your past deeds, Ms. Catherine.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
No wonder you were chosen as a workers' representative. A woman of honor. I esteem you for it.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
But we always must nip these things at the bud. Or are you able to guarantee me that your grandson won't become a traitor to us, such as... if he joined that Self-Salvation Corps that's all the vogue.
- Catherine
I've no need to guarantee it, Sir.
- Catherine
Young 'uns always think they can do something.
- Catherine
But it always turns out they don't know what it is they're facing.
- Catherine
They'll... nip themselves.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
...I understand your sentiment.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
......
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Indeed. Pursuing a single escaped worker pales in comparison to the gravity of ensuring a dozen factories continue to stably operate.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
I can overlook this affair, Ms. Catherine.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
But I do hope you're able to keep your promise.
- Catherine
As long as I'm in charge of this factory, there'll never be a problem.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Excellent. In that case, it's time we get on with the handover ceremony.
- Sarkaz Mercenary A
*sigh* Just our goddamned luck. I wanted to go to the factory too and watch the flag raising.
- Sarkaz Mercenary B
Quit griping. You can see it from here anyway. Just tough it out.
- Sarkaz Mercenary A
There's none of the gravitas here that you get watching on-site.
- Sarkaz Mercenary A
Man, who the hell knew we'd actually take Victoria's capital? Dream of that in the past and you'd kick yourself.
- Sarkaz Mercenary B
True enough.
- Sarkaz Mercenary B
Still, next comes the hardest period. The dukes are all eyes on us.
- Sarkaz Mercenary A
Hmph. If they were good for anything, we wouldn't have seized Londinium so handily.
- Feist
......
- Feist
That was close...
- Feist
Phew. Lucky these mercs have no idea the plate has a gap you can get into here.
Feist makes his way to a pipeline entrance.
He's done his survey. Somewhere along this passage is a connection to Sudean.
But now on the verge of setting foot inside it, he has doubts after all.
He wasn't kidding Patto. He's thought over every difficulty he might potentially face.
Critically, though, and what he never said, was that he didn't have a plan for every problem.
Granny wasn't wrong, after all. He's just a smith. He has a head that passes for smart, and relatively hardworking.
These two things ensured he could muddle through life fine in Londinium's peaceful years, but there's no telling if they'll save his life right under the Sarkaz's noses.
Tommy was right. If only those massive, hulking metal lads were still around.
He's all grown up, and still he's never seen a Steam Knight before.
Bang. Clang. Bang.
With the factory ceiling so high, and the hatches so small, the view of the sky can't help being miniscule from within.
Its ever-changing shades cast a like projection down into the factory. Never-changing is the sound of the assembly line, one hunk of metal striking another—
As well as the sight of old Granny, standing at its side.
- Catherine
Think it's dull, don't you?
- Catherine
Hold onto your hammer and spanner tight.
- Catherine
If you really want to do something, you've got to persevere.
- Catherine
You strike once, and you get nothing more than a hunk of beaten metal.
- Catherine
You strike again and again, and you can make steam armor.
- Catherine
You strike again and again, and then your child, and your children's children carry on striking—
- Catherine
And we've got Londinium.
Should he head back?
Should he go in?
He has no idea.
From far away comes the sound of a Sarkaz bugle, and Feist follows that sound.
Atop every factory in Londinium stands a flag.
That flag stands for Victoria.
Not once since this factory's founding has that ever changed.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
But that, as of today, has changed.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Sign here, Ms. Catherine.
Without hesitation, Catherine, upon the document that embodies transferal of factory authority, signs a practiced signature.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
And now, the final changing of the flag.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Go.
- Sarkaz Warrior
Yes, sir.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Stay, Ms. Catherine.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Be what it may, you are currently witnessing history.
- Catherine
......
- Catherine
Sir, can I light a smoke?
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
By all means.
- Catherine
Sir, just as you've heard of me, I've heard about you too.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Oh?
- Catherine
Gaul.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
Yes... My father was a Gaulish loyalist, that's no secret.
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
If you're querying me how I feel at this moment, Ms. Catherine...
- Lt. Colonel Lettou
An instant of joy that there was no blood shed throughout this procedure, but outside of that, my heart is filled with nothing but sorrow.
Not far away, Sarkaz soldiers ferry over the flag that stands for them.
Meanwhile, an additional two Sarkaz prepare to lower the current one.
Catherine can see the happiness on their faces.
And beyond them, a resplendent sunset glow.
Catherine knows. It all signifies the dark isn't long away.
Feist turns his head, and from this position, he just so happens to be able to see the factory's flagpole towering high.
He stands there, and watches as Victoria's flag descends, foot by foot.
A moment later, foot by foot, the flag of the Sarkaz rises.
As if nothing's changed at all.
He takes a deep breath, and sets foot into the pipeline.
It's pitch dark within. Apprehensively, he sets off, for the direction of Sudean he recalls.
All of Londinium's munitions factories have now completed the handover, and on this day, they have exchanged Victorian flags for those of the Sarkaz.
They flutter in the breeze.
