“Good to see ya, kid. Been desperate for an extra hand around here,” says Sheriff McCreech, walking ahead, spurs jingling. The Vorid gunslinger “Blink” Dawson follows by the orange light of the chemical lanterns, which trail ahead like fireflies. Blink notes the metal claw attached to Guilty’s back, which sways and clicks with its own intelligence, and the Volarak Corporation brand embossed upon it.

“Seems like yesterday we were chasing manticores off the herds in Crumland,” says Blink, wet nose sniffing. “How’d they rope you into this shindig?”

Guilty stops and looks back, eyes narrowed. Blink catches a glimpse of the scar around Guilty’s neck; a scar Guilty doesn’t talk about.

“I know a thing or two about governing folks,” he shrugs. “Practically ran a whole town back home. When they put out for volunteers to run this operation, well, I was first in line. And you were my first choice for deputy.”

“Flattered, I’m sure,” Blink says, a furry brow raised.

“What?”

“Just that I know you,” says Blink, crossing his arms. “And that you’d only come down here for something awful shiny.”

Guilty continues forward, and they soon emerge from the passage. Blink squints momentarily, letting his eyes adjust as he takes in the spectacle ahead of them:

Hundreds of Clockwork Combine employees dot the wall of a massive cavern—Chain Gruts carving into the stone while an ankylosaurus hauls away a sledge full of boulders. At a base camp far below, the samurai superintendent Nishi Souta paces and calls orders to groups coming and going. They are excavating a huge brass tower, windows and doorways half buried in the stone.

“Better’n gold,” says Guilty, gesturing to the vast spectacle before them. “Power. Power like even the Valkyrie ain’t never seen.”

When he looks back to Blink, it’s with a familiar glint in his eye.

“And partner, down here you and I are gonna rule like kings.”

Guilty McCreech is available in the Crooked Crew of the Clockwork Combine army expansion! Pre-order now for a July release.