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61 " The desert mocked the map-makers. "
― Dean F. Wilson , Hopebreaker (The Great Iron War, #1)
62 " They continued this deadly dance across the battlefield, played to the music of gunfire, which rattled them as much as it rattled the hulls of almost every landship in sight, and almost every one they couldn't turn quickly enough to see. Then the music took a bullet of its own, for Jacob no longer heard the song of Andil’s gun. "
63 " Be idealistic about the future, be realistic about the present, and never forget the lessons of the past. "
― Dean F. Wilson
64 " The mania of his comrades helped quell his fear of monsters, and made him fear instead the bashing boots of men. "
― Dean F. Wilson , Lifemaker (The Great Iron War, #2)
65 " Spotlights appeared by the dozen, like the bullets of heaven’s gun, and anyone caught running through one of them didn't run for long. "
66 " Jacob couldn't really hear the sound of the other landships over the humming and cranking of his own. He heard the whistle of steam coming from the pipes and the latching of the iron tracks as they clicked into place. He heard gears adjusting, the rhythm of the pumps, the revving of the engine, and the fuming of the furnace. He also heard Andil’s heavy breathing, and he heard his own heart’s heavy beating. "
67 " Further still, there were numerous machines on wheels and tracks and treads, pushed and powered by steam, creaking and heaving as they moved, dripping oil, the blood of industrial war. "
68 " Nothing else attacked the submarine that day, or the days that followed, but every sound was heard as the battle cry of a beast, every creak the war song of the deep. Nerves were frayed, and many among the crew found it difficult to rest, and impossible to sleep. For those who fought their way into the realms of slumber, the battle raged on in their dreams. "
69 " Behind the sternness of his voice there was a shackled anger, and beneath that shackled anger there was a buried pain. "
70 " And it was to the bottom that the vessel now plunged, into the waters that were blacker than any black on land, into a gloom that was more consuming than the deepest night. Were the crew not focused on their frenzied work to stop the steep descent, they might've glanced out one of the many round windows, and they might've thought that they were looking into the black iris of an evil creature—and they might've been right. "
71 " Moments passed like the lives of the dead. Who knew how many had died in that explosion? The Order wouldn't stay long enough to count. Names would be ticked off from a list later, and their passing wouldn't seem quite so bad on the page. Yet as people fell, the counters rose, and the anger rose in those who remained. "
72 " No one, not even the demons of the Regime, could survive at the immense pressures of the abyss, and even if they could, they would likely drown before they set eyes upon the gaping maws of the denizens of the deep. "
73 " It was hard to conceive of one so young roped into the war, but that was war for you. Jacob was just shy of twice his age and had avoided the rope so far. He thought that was a good thing. You see, the rope'd hang you. "
74 " He liked the darkness, but this was oppressing. It almost flooded his being. He was afraid that even when he returned to the light—or if he returned to the light—he would still feel that darkness in his soul. "
75 " The sting of the bee is worst in a swarm. "
76 " The glare filled the cockpit like a passenger, until every piece of metal, every crag and cog, was illuminated, until the very metal itself glared back, and might've blinded the eyes of the sun. "
77 " In the black abyss, there were creatures that even demons feared. No one knew what they looked like, not even themselves, for they were blind, and though many were scavengers, seizing and consuming any stray bits of food that'd sunk down from the higher levels, there were predators too, just waiting for larger prey. "
78 " We can bet on one thing in our flight, and that's that the Regime will be looking for us. Their maw is likely here in the west, where they know we're strongest. If you linger near the mouth of a predator, you make yourself an easy dish. Sometimes you're safer beneath the belly of the beast. "
79 " But he who knows not when to obey shall find that he's really obeying his rebellious lower aspects. His animal nature, if you well. So then, is he really a rebel at all "
80 " Monster was such a subjective word. It was what they called the demons that made up the Regime. Perhaps it was what the demons called them. Yet they all looked alike, so perhaps neither of them were monsters—or perhaps both sides were. "