The Old Way

*Posted by : Winteroak on Apr 18, 2018, 8:16pm*

-21st August - Silken Mill, Steamworks - Midday-

"Fire..." came the order from the streets as almost 100 armed militia soldiers stormed the square in front of the Silken Mill. Many onlookers had gathered on the nearby streets to see if Westley Corbet was going to honour his pledge to the workers but the sight if the rushing militia and the first volleys of fire sent almost every onlooker running for their lives including the Constables who knew better than to stay around and be caught in the cross fire or by stray bullets.

Once the Council had voted unanimously to end the strike, Marshall Maynard Benedict Fordham had immediately ordered the deployment of his shock troops. They had been ordered to use extreme force in removing the strikers and ensure all other workers could return to the Mill and production resume.
Westley had protested vehemently with the Council decision but all his protests fell on deaf ears. Eventually he was taken away by The Spider to ensure he did not get a warning to the strikers. The tension between the two men was palpable.
Westley Corbet belonged to one of the oldest families in Dusk. He was old money but in the last he had made many enemies. Powerful enemies.
He had tried to do what was best for his workers but had failed.

In the courtyard of the Silken Mill dozens of strikers were struck down with the first volley from the carbine rifles. Dozens more lost their lives in the second round. Repetitive firing weapons were an advantage that the Militia held over almost every other group in Dusk. A third volley claimed even more lives before the strikers took cover behind their makeshift barricades or inside the Mill itself.
Sure Westley's words had fill them with hope and Nestor's disappearance last night did not not help matters but they were not under any illusions.
When this plan was set in motion most knew that the likely outcome would be this one. Confrontation with the Militia was always the likely outcome. They had been simply caught off guard.

A group of Militia men carried a battering ram to the locked gate and moved to break in down. That is when the strikers struck back. Several molotov cocktails flew through the air and exploded over the men in the brown leather uniforms.
The flames took hold immediately and the men screamed in agony as the fire consumed their flesh.
There was no time for cheering among the strikers. Even those behind cover were being picked out from a distance my the militia sharpshooters and their carbines.
Poor man's grenades were no match for the military and their war machine. Even the few in the courtyard that returned fire and managed to claim a few lives knew they could not stand and keep them away for long.
All they could do was to buy some time for their brothers and sisters inside the Mill.

It did not take long for the Militia to gain access to the courtyard and kill the last remnants of resistance. Even those wounded were put down with well placed strokes of the hard iron of bayonets. There would be no prisoners today. The action was to be swift and brutal to ensure any workers thought twice before considering joining any future strikes in the factories.
The Militia established a perimeter around the courtyard before most of their number entered the Mill to peruse the last strikers.

Later investigations would show that workers had rigged the rotative steam engines that powered the Mill many machines to overload. The explosion was heard across the Steamworks district and debris flung as far as the Sprawl and East Twins. The fire that ensued caught the by production of the Mill textiles and fire took hold in seconds. A fire that would for days before it was contained.
The few that witnessed the event claimed a huge ball of fire had roared into existence in the blink of an eye destroying everything in its path.
Soot and burned cotton would fall across the whole of Dusk like black rain for days to come. Evidence that there were now those in the City that were prepared to fight back against the Council and their forces.
One hundred and fifty workers died that that. But their sacrifice dealt a blow without precedent to the establishment. Ninety elite soldiers killed in the explosion.
A fair price to pay some would one day say.

Later than night when word reached Ezekiel Tinker on the events at the Silken Mill once again he pondered if this was the right course of action. So many dead.
But Enoch was right. Regardless of the outcome and what could have been if Westley had honored his promise, the ruthless actions of the Council and Militia would only spur support for the Red Crew in the long run.
And after today and the events of the last few days Elesium was bound to have something to say as well.
The old way it was in danger of blowing back in the face of the elite.