A bulky man resting on his sword, while the sun sets on a smoky, half-destroyed London: Erricus Vane is lost in his thoughts and his army is nearing annihilation. At last reinforcements come by, but bombardments persist, hence the shameful fight and the risks it entails.

Your war leader is losing his mind. What do you do?

I didn’t understand much at first reading: this is one isolated episode in a universe which is more fully developed elsewhere. Readers of Laurence Beveridge’s prose and lyrics may recognize characters like Raine, Roman, Shallow, Yuji or Keane (there must be jokey references in some of these names). The rest won’t, but still we get desperate action while Wallachian, Vaticanian, Convonian and Swemerican forces fight one another among the ruins.

Available in volume 7.