Firebrand looked back at the human who had suddenly appeared and wished that the young man had made his grand debut before he'd been forced to debase himself like this. He heard the sounds of fighting erupt in the streets far below them and saw the crooked hand the man had pointed at Viral's armor, heard the pesky thrum of magic. He didn't know what his man was doing to Viral but, considering what he had just gone through, Firebrand was willing to bet it was debilitating. 

The loyalty issues in Viral's army reared their ugly heads again. From his perch on the edge of the roof he could see down as one of the men Viral had forced into submission rose up in revolt against him. The situation had not altogether changed. Should the machine fall Firebrand had no doubt that those Viral had forced under his banner would desert him, or else come for their revenge. Everyone around him seemed willing to fight. Could he really bare the shame of being the only one here with a bowed head?

He knew that he would surely die should they not be able to bring the machine down. He'd declared for Viral. Whatever others did now was impertinence, they could still be brought to heel. What Firebrand was going to do would be betrayal now. Far worse. Maybe if he respected the man he would side with him out of a sense of duty, but he reminded Firebrand far too much of his younger days for that. Besides which, there was that tilt he had felt in the world. He wanted to investigate that, and couldn't do it if he was acting as a toady for am upstart warlord. Or he would find it, but it would be found for Viral. He'd seen firsthand what happened when ambitious fools found something like that.

So he turned his attention to the problem the others had disregarded; the arm that hung above them like the sword of Damocles, ready to rain hell for their refusal. He looked across the roof to where the machines other arm kept it steady upon the building, felt the fire well up in his chest, and suddenly started blasting apart the grip with shot after shot of Busters. That part of the building crumbled away under the massive hand. 

As the machine either steadied itself with its free hand or fell Firebrand hoped the young man would take to heart the lessons of today: men who were yours at the point of a sword were no men of yours at all.

[@Nightknight][@supertinyking][@Wraithblade6][@thewizardguy]