Blood and Iron by Tony Ballantyne Read Free Book Online Page B

hills sunk down beneath the land and the peaks of the central mountain range rose up before them.
    There were now two thousand soldiers marching south down the Northern Road. They spilled over the verges, black Storm Troopers tramping down the borders, smashing trees, crushing stone. Silver Scouts ran in flashing patterns around them, grey infantryrobots plodded across the land, tearing holes and ruts in the mud and grass, all making their way back towards Spoole and his Generals, come to meet the conquering hero.
    They had left the uncharted lands of the far north and were back amongst the signs of Artemisian expansion. Railway lines threaded north, trains could be seen in the distance carrying metal and plate and wire and coal.
    Still they marched, and around them new forges were springing up, new buildings and barracks and warehouses, dropped amongst the stone castles and buildings that had been constructed by the former rulers of this land. The robots who worked in the new buildings came out to watch the passing band. Some of them waving and cheering, some merely standing in silence, eyes glowing as the procession marched by.
    Kavan found himself marching in the centre of growing space. No one seemed to want to come too close to him. No one but Forban and Calor.
    ‘No one knows which way this will go,’ said Forban. ‘They want to be on the winning side.’
    ‘What about you, Forban?’ asked Kavan. ‘What do you want?’
    ‘I want what’s best for Artemis,’ said the Black Storm Trooper, miserably.
    Calor joined them.
    ‘The land seems to be drained of soldiers,’ she said. ‘All the troops that should be out here have vanished.’
    ‘Spoole will have ordered them to withdraw,’ said Kavan. ‘He will have them grouped safely around himself.’
    He looked up at the mountains ahead. They seemed to fill the sky.
    ‘Not long now,’ he said.
    And so the Army of Uncertain Allegiance left the hills of the north and approached the mountains of the central range, where they saw arrayed against them the armies of Spoole and Artemis City.
    Row upon row of black Storm Troopers, thousands upon thousands of grey infantry robots. The high peaks shone with the glimmering array of Scouts. All new and unscratched, freshly minted by the Artemisian forges, and untouched by the glamour of Kavan. These soldiers had not marched with him. They had not fought alongside him, and they bore him no loyalty.
    The troops of the Uncertain Army gradually halted, stopping in ones and twos, looking to their companions for a lead. Only Kavan and Calor and Forban continued forward.
    ‘It’s over, Kavan,’ said Forban.
    Kavan continued to walk. Calor and Forban followed hesitantly.
    Spoole had chosen a good place to meet the Uncertain Army. They stood on a rocky plain between the hills and the mountains. The only way south was between the arms of the mountains, into the valley that Kavan himself had blasted all those months ago.
    ‘Enough of this!’
    The voice came from behind. General Mickael, who had kept well clear of Kavan since they had met, was coming forward.
    ‘Why are we hesitating?’ he called, blue eyes flashing. ‘Move out, now.’
    Forban and Calor looked at Kavan. All eyes were on Kavan.
    ‘I said move out!’
    Kavan ignored him. He waited a moment, thinking, and then turned to face Spoole’s troops.
    ‘Soldiers of Artemis,’ he called. He waited, waited for their attention. Then he raised his hand, pointed forward.
    ‘There is your enemy,’ he said. ‘There, arrayed before you in polished metal.’
    He waited for his words to sink in.
    ‘And so it is time. Take up your weapons, and charge.’
    He barely raised his voice, but the words rippled outwards from where he stood. Infantryrobots lifted their rifles. Storm Troopers turned in warning, told them to lower their arms. But not all of them. Scouts began to dance at the perimeter. A wave was set up. Robots pushing this way and that, but with no overall