Although Loyalist repeatedly insisted that the only reason he could make an "Iron Fist" was that he'd seen the thing so often in certain war games, no one who knew the truth—not even Murphy—believed that a war-game enthusiast could really handcraft such a "primitive rocket launcher."
Even so, the Iron Fist he'd brought out was indeed in the crude form the weapon had first taken when it appeared in Berlin during World War II.
It was a multi-tube design loaded with the most primitive rockets. It had no real accuracy to speak of, relying on quantity to make up for quality. The rough hand-crafted joints were enough to make the vampire lord shift his feet so the thing wouldn't hurt him if it exploded.
However, Murphy had no doubt about the damage the thing in Loyalist's hands could inflict.
Seeing Loyalist prepare to test-fire it at Maxim and Adele's invitation, Murphy quietly took several more steps back.
He was genuinely afraid it would backfire and take everyone nearby with it. The hand-built weapon might not be powerful enough to hurt an elite vampire lord and his exceptionally capable followers, but being careful was never the wrong choice.
After all, Murphy really only had one life in this world. He had to use it to level all the way to the top, so any unforeseen mistake or accident was unacceptable to him. His cautious approach to life might look cowardly—and, in truth, it was pretty cowardly—but for a vampire who couldn't treat his life as a "combat resource," it was a pretty sound creed.
As it turned out, Loyalist's "craftsmanship" was quite good. The highly professional blueprints and the fact that Countess Sharon had personally helped make the thing at least guaranteed its safety.
"Pfft."
Amid billowing smoke, the thing, shaped