An incredible piece commissioned from the absolutely wonderful  Remroto

This really fired my creative muscle, so I thought I'd put together a quick little story to explain why this poor birb has his gun out and looks so nervous.
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One minute, Musician Muso T. Roostforth Esq. of the 2nd Martian Highlanders regiment was doing his usual duties in a performance for his superior officers, the next he was armed and crouched behind a table for cover as 2 dozen savage Martian Plant-Men forced their way into the Imperial encampment! The attack was sudden, and caught the entire camp totally off-guard. Within seconds the sounds of musket fire rang through the camp, mingling with the clashing of swords and bellowed orders.

The Plant-Men forced their way through the lines, using their barbed, thorny arms to tear a path clear. Brave soldiers of the Empire stood between them and their prey, but they were all felled. It was clear to everyone who they were aiming for; the officers assembled near the bandstand.

Muso clicked a magazine into his pistol and poured a small measure of black powder down the barrel. A member of the army band he might be, but he was still a soldier, and it was his duty to defend his superiors. His first burst of fire tore a hole straight through the closest Plant-Man's leafy flesh. His bandmates were busy laying siege to a monstrously tall Plant-Man that looked more like a tree than a person.

A thick, trunk-like arm gripped Muso by his jacket and tossed him aside. Muso knocked against something cold and hard, and his vision began to blur. Before he blacked out completely, he saw the Plant-Men seizing the camp's Generals by their uniforms and dragging them away from the bandstand, as the other Musicians peppered their assailants with weapons fire.

He awoke to a scene of chaos.

The alarms were ringing, and troops from all over the camp were being assembled. Orders were being barked to the assembled soldiers. It seemed to be a mass mobilisation of the entire camp. The retrieval of the abducted Generals was the highest priority. Entire batallions were being loaded into airships, their engines blazing bright blue with the power of the Luminiferous Aether, and taking to the sky to scour the Martian dunes for the Plant-Men.

Muso, however, had his suspicions about the attack. Plant-Men were vicious, but more or less inert without something controlling them, and they certainly weren't capable of something like this. Some other party was behind it, but who could it be?

He had to find out, yet he had his orders. The band were to remain at the camp and assist in the repairs.

He stared down at his chest, contemplating the medal he wore on his chest. The Brass Cog of Valour, a rare decoration for a soldier of the ranks, even rarer for a Musician to wear.

He'd won it for showing courage at a time when only he could. Time to summon that courage that won him the medal in the first place.

Out of sight, Muso reloaded his pistol, pulled on his goggles, clipped an Oxygenator to his sash, and stepped out of the camp and into the blazing wastes of Mars.