Bulletfoot One

by Marshall Rust

"Keep us moving," she reminded Mini.

  "I will, but there are some…complications," the AI said and sounded almost uncertain. She had never heard him like that before and looked quickly to where the Golem advanced on her teammates. She noticed that they seemed to use evasive tactics but wasn't sure what they tried to avoid until she registered the weapon the AI-controlled mech used.

  It took her a few moments to realize that the mist that issued from the exhaust vents wasn't the usual steam but carried something a little heavier that made it swirl and hang only a short distance above the ground until it came into contact with its adversaries. A pale-white and noxious smoke rose when it connected with the metal of the Knights' mechs.

  Jessica13 wasn't sure, but it seemed like the vapor was incredibly caustic or acidic and it had begun to eat into the armor. It would take a long time to destroy it sufficiently to reach the pilot, but it was certainly cause for concern, at least in her eyes.

  "Windchime, stay away from the steam the Golem is emitting," she said. "It's acidic and it could eat into something important in your mech."

  "I…are you sure?" He sounded a little stressed.

  "Your mechs erupt in white smoke whenever you step into it," she told him firmly. "It's safe to say there's some kind of chemical reaction."

  "That complicates things," he complained.

  He was unfortunately correct. They needed to get in close to the Golem to inflict any real damage and he accomplished most of it with his vibroswords. They sliced deeply, but the laser-point defense grid that was mounted on its shoulders protected the vital functions from any shots, which meant shooting it from a distance wouldn't work. His close-quarters assault was the only option, and with its large, thick arms swung around like clubs, it had appeared this was the only defense it had and which Windchime’s speed and dexterity could easily avoid.

  The acidic mist, however, created a dangerous complication that had bigger repercussions than simply the potential damage to their armor.

  "Shit!" Windchime shouted over the comms. "Keep attacking but run systems checks every time. If there's any kind of breach in your armor, don't go in again. Leave us and help Hammerhand engage the escort."

  The team highlighted their understanding of the situation and continued their efforts. Jessica13 turned her attention to the Lancers that had now resumed their approach. The one with a dead pilot began to walk around in a circle when the AI started to malfunction, and the other two seemed to realize that she was the shooter.

  She selected her second target and pulled the trigger before they could attack. The mech immediately displayed the same kind of devolving function and she trained her weapon on the third one.

  "Jessie, get down!" Windchime called.

  Jessica13 looked up gaped at a new weapon that had appeared on the Golem's shoulder.

  "Radar targeting systems detect that we have been acquired," Mini said and displayed the system in question.

  "Shit." She turned to the building above her and aimed her grappler at the top of the building.

  "Oh, I will regret this," Jessica13 mumbled and wracked her brain for any other possible solution.

  "What is the alternative?" Mini asked as two missiles flared from the massive mech’s launcher.

  She made no reply and simply fired the grappler at the still-burning building. The dart struck top the corner and embedded itself as she hastily engaged the retractor and hauled them up abruptly enough to make her head snap back. They climbed quickly while the missiles spun toward her and attempted to arc and adjust for her sudden change of location.

  They weren't quick enough but their impacts with the building she was climbing were immense. The explosion caught her in the back, shoved her upward, and thrust the breath out of her lungs.

  More importantly, her grasp on the building shuddered and suddenly pulled free as the entire side of the structure began to fall.

  "Oh shit!" Jessica13 shouted and her stomach lurched into her throat as her upward motion ceased and she hung in a moment of vertigo before gravity pulled her down again.

  Unfortunately, the structure toppled with her.

  "Brace your neck!" Mini warned and she did as she was told, clasped her hands around her neck, and hunched herself in the cockpit when he took control of the mech again.

  She grunted as they landed harder than she had anticipated with a jarring thunk, but Mini had already fired the grappler as another two missiles streaked toward her. She curled as best she could to protect herself as the grappler dragged her across the ground, away from both the projectiles and the falling building.

  It wasn't a clean escape as chunks of construction material showered over them as they moved. Unfortunately, the missiles also struck home and hurled them forward. This caused a loss of traction on the retractor, which displayed a couple of malfunctions.

  She was hurled around inside the cockpit and felt every shake and shudder. Something was wrong with the inertia dampeners and some of the jarring and pounding affected her more than they should have.

  "Crap," she exclaimed when they finally came to a halt. "Why did it target us?"

  "Core programming," Mini explained. "It's meant to contain us and you threatened to break that containment."

  "Very helpful." She hissed in pain and rubbed her sore shoulder. "Run a systems check and make sure nothing's broken."

  "Affirmative," he said. "Although it should be noted that the targeting system on the Golem is still locked onto us. You should eject."

  "I wouldn't survive out in the smoke without help and you know it," Jessica13 said. "I'm not going anywhere."

  "Our funeral," Mini said.

  "Was that a joke?" she asked as she struggled to get the mech upright. "Are you making jokes now?"

  "I have attempted to upgrade my human-friendly functions," he said. "I am glad you appreciate it."

  The missiles flared again as the Knights continued to attack. There were many ways to kill something like that but the most basic was, of course, to tear it apart, piece by piece. It wouldn’t come close enough to achieve that, however.

  She gaped as the missiles fired upward instead of at her to twirl and twist before they detonated hundreds of meters in the air.

  The reason why was suddenly made apparent. The shield's blue film was distinctive but she had somehow missed it despite that. She realized she had Hammerhand to thank for redirecting the missiles and was about to warn him about the vapor when he charged the Golem and shoved it forward again.

  It turned and tried to see what had attacked as the shield dropped.

  Jessica13 knew what would come next, and she really wanted to watch. The hammer arced above Hammerhand's head and swung to catch the monstrosity across the shoulder. It wasn't a clean blow but still powerful enough to make it stumble.

  The blue film of the shield appeared again and seemed oddly clear against the smoke and fire in the background as the man surged forward again. The massive Excalibur moved faster than the Golem could, and the impact was enough to destabilize the monster’s gyros and it lurched into a smaller building that toppled with it.

  The shield fell again and the hammer raised and activated the rockets on the back.

  She flinched as it descended. Cutting into the mech was effective but crushing it was equally so, and after four strikes of the hammer, scrap metal was all that was left.

  Windchime came over to where she still struggled to right herself and helped to pull the Minato to its feet.

  "Are you all right?" he asked. "Are there any breaches in your armor?"

  Jessica13 ran a spot check. "None that I can see, anyway. I'll need to run a quick systems check to be sure."

  "Until you do, stay away from that mist," he said and removed a few pieces of rubble from her joints, which had probably been what prevented her from standing in the first place. "Go out there and help them take care of the rest of Athena's assholes. We'll clean up around here."

  She nodded and turned carefully. The Minato's
movements were still a little sluggish although she didn’t detect anything she couldn't bang out herself once they were clear of the smoke and caustic steam. She moved over to the rubble, retrieved the rifle she had dropped there, and brushed some of the debris from that too.

  "Will it still work?" she asked.

  "Scans indicate that it should be as functional as it was when you held it before," Mini said after a moment. "Rifles like this were built to take a great deal of punishment."

  "Well, there’s only one way to find out." She raised the rifle and peered through the scope at the Lancers and Cinders the other Knights had begun to engage now that the Golem had been dealt with.

  She pulled the trigger and was a little startled by the kick as the hellebore round exited and flew true. It bored into a Lancer and its AI took the functions over when the human was killed.

  "There's something wrong with the inertia dampeners," she grumbled and rubbed her shoulder again. "I'll need to check on it when we have the time."

  "Of course," Mini said. "I am already running diagnostics."

  "Show me," Jessica13 said and checked the rifle again. She'd had no idea that it had that kind of kick since it was usually absorbed.

  The diagnostics were running slow due to the external heat acting on the mech.

  "The Minato should be functional for the moment, but there will be some malfunctions," Mini said. "My apologies."

  "There’s no need for apologies," she said and peered down the scope again. "Let's get this finished."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The confrontation dragged on. Athena's knights were well trained, and once they realized they were no longer merely in a containment role, they quickly reorganized, pulled together, and mounted a strong defense. If it had been only the Knights, they would have put up one hell of a fight and might have won.

  But the group wasn't built to face the might that came with an Excalibur in the attackers’ ranks. Hammerhand worked quickly once he’d eliminated the Golem and focused on the mechs. Jessica13 continued to keep herself away from the fight as Mini conducted the work on the suit to keep them functional. The acid mist was rapidly burned away in the fires that still consumed the town around them, which made it safe again for her and the others who might have compromised their mechs had it remained.

  It was slow, steady work, but it wasn't long before Athena's knights were defeated deftly and without quarter given. Hammerhand was in a state of fury, cut down those who attempted to retreat, and demanded that his team do the same. He intended to send a message of his own, not that there would really be anyone left to deliver it to Athena.

  "Killing the messenger sends a message in its own right," Windchime explained to her once all the other mechs were destroyed and they went about the work of scavenging and recycling them. "Even if they don't return to Athena, she'll know none of them returned and that is a message in and of itself."

  "I don't think it was an intentional reaction from Hammerhand," she said and shook her head. "In fact, I would go so far as to say that he is in the kind of mood where he would kill anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way. He's not thinking right now. He's angry."

  "It doesn’t mean both can't be true," he pointed out and cleaned his mech while other Knights worked to extinguish the fires. They were already starting to burn out, and it was only a matter of containing the blaze and preventing it from spreading into the nearby grasslands.

  It would have been providential to have a rainstorm to put the flames out, but unlike Auburn, this town didn't appear to have its own connection to the weather control system.

  They did what was required in the conventional way with what water could be found and by clearing the land and letting it die naturally.

  Hammerhand appeared to take part in their efforts with a little too much enthusiasm. A single strike of his Hammer collapsed one of the buildings they had made sure was clear of live occupants, and with ground-shaking thuds, he attacked the fire with his hammer and used it to quell any flames.

  She wondered if he didn’t also take a little of his frustration out as well, as he had no other enemies to focus on.

  It was long, arduous work, and while the smoke would linger around the area for days and possibly weeks, the fires were out. They could all focus on scavenging and finding anything they could use, not only from the fallen mechs but also from the town around them. It felt almost disrespectful to the people who had died in their homes, but they lived a life that didn't allow for respect of the dead to take precedence over the survival of the living.

  Jessica13 sensed the despondency among the Knights as they went about their work with their usual efficiency. A few hours later, the Beast rolled in together with those who had been tasked to bring it safely. It was impossible to miss the shocked and awed looks in their eyes as they moved forward almost seamlessly to do their share of the work.

  "Fucking savages," Tinker said as he came over to her. "She needs to be all kinds of insane to do something like this. I'll never be able to understand what drives that woman to go to these lengths. A part of me wants to say it's not human, but I've seen too many humans acting like her to truly believe that. But never quite on this fucking scale, though."

  She looked around, unsure of what she was supposed to say to him. Did he expect her to have something to say on the topic?

  He didn't seem to notice that she hadn't replied. Maybe he had talked mostly to himself. After a second of reflection, he turned to face her fully. "How are you doing, lassie? I see you're not much the worse for wear, aside from a couple of bumps and scrapes and…what looks like acid eating into the nethers of your mech. Did you step into a vat of it?"

  "Nothing quite that concentrated," she said and shook her head. He had not been present for the fight as he had doubtless been in contact with the three Knights in the Beast and had waited for their arrival. "We encountered a Golem that spouted an acid steam from its vents that settled on the ground around us. I almost didn't realize it until Mini picked up on it."

  "Wait, hold yer horses," he said. "You battled a Golem? What kind?"

  Jessica13 wanted to show the man but remembered that the monstrosity in question had been crushed by Hammerhand. "Well, it was big—almost as big as the Excalibur—but rounder and it didn't have any assault rifles. Instead, it had a laser-point defense grid, big clubs for hands, and shoulder-mounted rocket launchers that it turned on me once I tried to destabilize their containment technique. And there was the acid steam release that I thought was very interesting from a mechanical standpoint at least."

  "The acid steam came from its cooling vents?" he asked and moved closer to her where she took one of the Lancers apart. "That's incredibly dangerous. It would corrode the vents themselves and it would kill the pilot when he was exposed. When, not if. I know the kind who work for Athena, and while they enjoy danger, the suicidal type they are not. Usually, they’re quite greedy and like to take what they want, but they would never put themselves inside a mech that would kill them."

  "I don't think there was a pilot inside the Golem," she said. "There were dozens of bits and pieces put together and a huge amount of armor. It was meant to take as long as possible to eliminate it, but Hammerhand was a little more motivated than usual."

  "What do you mean?" Tinker asked.

  "I think this whole thing affected him," Jessica13 said. "Seeing this many people killed and that Athena wanted to lay a trap for him and his people—and the fact that he walked right into it—well, he destroyed it on his own, then attacked any of the mechs that stepped in front of him. And one of the buildings that were on fire. Well, it was effective and did put the fire out, I suppose, but in the end, it seemed like he needed to vent heat of his own that had nothing to do with his Excalibur."

  Her companion nodded and looked pensive for a moment. "I've known the man for years and I can say that sounds exactly like him. Seeing folks killed like this would tick him off something special as he's an empathetic man.
He feels their pain rather acutely and will go to great lengths to make sure it’s reduced, at least somewhat if he can."

  She sighed, looked at the man who stood over her, and shrugged enough that her mech would exaggerate the motion with a hint of annoyance. "Be that as it may, I can sense his despair. More importantly, so can the Knights, and I fear it is starting to spread. I wouldn't want to overstep or comment on something that is not my place, but if he needs something to lash out at, it should be Athena and not random buildings."

  "It's not overstepping to speak your mind, lass," Tinker said. "And what you have to say makes a good deal of sense, I won't deny that. Hammerhand is a leader, and with his position comes the expectation from those he leads that forces him to be better—and sometimes better than human. I am concerned for the man, make no mistake, but you are right. He does need to collect himself."

  Jessica13 scowled. She hadn't meant that he wasn't allowed to grieve for the people who had been killed by Athena, especially since the most admirable trait about the man was how he was able to feel the pain of others and allowed it to fuel his own actions of heroism. She didn't want to change that about him.

  But at the same time, the Knights needed Hammerhand to take that grief and pain and make it into something that would drive them forward to confront Athena to make her answer for her crimes against the people she had hurt and killed. It would protect the other people in the area and it would help them to see there was a better way.

  The scavenging efforts began to wind down. Most of what could be recovered had been gathered and the rest had been thoroughly ruined by the fire. It simply wasn’t worth the effort it would take to make them functional once more.

  The group gathered at the edge of town where the Beast waited, and it was immediately apparent that Hammerhand's mood had not improved. He still looked like he was ready to crush anything and anyone that crossed his path. The mood was reflected in many of the group who paced impatiently ran weapons’ checks far more than was necessary. It wasn’t hard to imagine that their despair had turned to hatred, anger, and the desire to avenge the fallen.