Taylor moved quickly in his Sherlock, supported by his Watson, and protected Hammerhand's flanks to ensure that none could get around his shield and hammer. At the same time, the Predator broke away, circled its leader, and surged into the enemy ranks.
It moved swiftly and deliberately and used the close quarters to its advantage. The chainsword dealt severe damage to the limbs of the mechs and rendered them immobile before it cut carefully into the cockpits so as to leave the mech itself intact while it could still drag the pilots out.
None of them retreated, asked for mercy, or even thought to take Hammerhand up on his offer.
Jessica13 shook her head at their foolishness as the chainsword executed the pilots methodically and splattered their blood across the grasslands. The bodies were simply left there to rot.
It was harder to watch the men killed outside their mechs than to simply shoot them almost clinically while they were still inside. There was a lack of connection as if the man being killed was simply a part of disabling the mech. No matter how terrible he was supposed to be, it was far more emotionally charged to witness him actually dying.
Hammerhand turned to his team. "Put the fires out so the Beast can come through. Once you're finished with that, we'll strip the parts from these and move on, as is our way."
As was their way, she reminded herself. It helped to focus on the routine. She wasn't sure how they would manage to extinguish the blaze so watched the others as they dug the dirt to spread it over the flames. She moved closer to the Cinder she had shot and realized that while the flames had eventually burned themselves out in certain sections, they had been so intense that the sandy earth around it had been turned to glass. It crunched under her boots as she gathered as much soil as she could and carried it to where the fires were still a problem.
There was too wide a section by now to completely extinguish, but a pathway was quickly created through the flames. Smoke seeped through where they had smothered a section of the fire but it would allow the Beast to travel through.
With that accomplished, they turned their attention to the battlefield and scavenged what they could from the parts that hadn't been crushed or melted. The Beast moved slowly along the route they'd created and carefully avoided the sections that were burning on either side. The parts they collected were gathered and put in the back.
As was their way. The thought came unbidden again, but it seemed to ground her. Despite the trauma of some of the things she’d witnessed, the idea that she was part of something solid and normal and lasting brought solace.
It was all slow, hard work, but it needed to be done. Jessica13 recognized that her body felt like it was at its limit. She was exhausted after a long, hard day of marching and fighting, and she didn't think she could take much more of it.
And yet there were still a few things that needed to be done before they resumed their journey to Auburn. Once again, those who had sustained injuries were attended to, mechs were examined, and any repairs that could be done were completed. Fortunately, the Knights had sustained little damage and most of it was easily remedied.
Thereafter, as if by some unspoken command, the mechs began to fall into their usual formation, ready to march once again.
Tinker moved over to where Jessica13 tried to make a wide berth around one of the dead bodies.
"How are you feeling, Jessie?" he asked as he fell in beside her.
He only ever called her Jessie when he was concerned about her. That much was familiar, at least.
"I'm fine," she lied. "A little tired, though. I thought I might snatch a little sleep on the way to Auburn. Well, unless Athena has left any more of her minions to give us problems."
"I think it’s safe to assume she won’t have. Of course, we have no real idea of the number of her forces but I imagine it couldn’t have been easy for her to have this many people spread out so quickly," Tinker said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we find our way to Auburn clear and clean, although that might change if those fucking balloons keep moving."
She looked up when he mentioned them, and sure enough, despite the delay they'd had while they dealt with Athena's men, they were still a good way ahead of the slow-moving balloons.
The fact that they were still moving inexorably toward Auburn played on her nerves and made her heart sink into her stomach a little. Their slow pace, however, meant the Knights at least had time to reach the town and prepare before whatever it was that Athena had in mind for them arrived.
"We'd better keep moving, lassie," Tinker said and patted her shoulder lightly. "There’s no point in waiting for them out in the open."
"What about the fires?" she asked. "Isn't there something we can do before they sweep through the whole land?"
He looked at the flames that crept across the landscape around them. "I'm afraid there are a few troubles that are too mighty for even the Knights Mechanica to handle. Let us focus on those we can deal with."
She nodded regretfully and ran a quick check on her rifle before she joined the Knights.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jessica13 did manage to get a few hours of sleep while the Knights continued to move across the grasslands toward Auburn. She also noted that Windchime had sent an encrypted message across their private lines to tell them that he and his team had arrived at the next town. A handful of Athena's men was in place, but they wouldn’t engage them yet.
It was a wise decision. There was really no point in letting the enemy know about their presence in the area before they could make a real difference.
The few hours of sleep she snatched were rife with nightmares filled with mechs that rushed through flames to attack her, while she was always unable to protect herself. The Minato didn't respond to her controls, and Mini remained silent. Every time, she jerked instinctively to avoid being injured or killed, but it simply repeated itself when she closed her eyes again.
By sunrise, she decided to simply give up on the concept of sleep for the moment. She'd had some rest, at least, and that would have to be enough for now.
"If you like, I can study your sleep patterns in order to try to find a method to help you get decent rest," Mini said as she rubbed her eyes, which felt like someone had put a grinder to her eyeballs.
"How did you know I had trouble sleeping?" she asked and growled softly. "Do you spy on me while I try to get some rest?"
"Of course I do," he responded in a matter-of-fact tone. "But I can't study something as intimate as rem cycles and the like while you sleep. At least not without your express permission."
"Wait, is the issue with my express permission?" she asked. "Because I don't remember permitting you to watch me sleep."
"You tasked me with keeping you safe," he pointed out. "In that, there were certain permissions you implied. You can withdraw those permissions, of course, but until you do, I will continue to observe as I have been, as keeping you safe is my highest priority."
"No, no, it's nothing like that," she said and shook her head. The rising sun illuminated the landscape around them despite the fact that the sky was covered with a thick layer of clouds. It would be a dark day, but some light was better than none at all.
"What is it?" Mini asked.
"I'm a little cranky, is all," she admitted. "Getting little to no sleep ever since we started on this mission is really telling on the nerves. I know you've always looked out for my best interests, even if I haven't done the same."
He paused and ran a number of processes, and Jessica13 realized that the AI was trying to determine if she was being sarcastic or not. After carefully determining that she was not, the processes closed.
"Well, again, if you would like me to, I think I could help you get better sleep if I was allowed to monitor your sleep cycles," he said finally.
"I appreciate that, Mini, and I might actually take you up on it," she responded with a small smile and ran her fingers over the inside of the cockpit. She knew she couldn't take a mech like the Minato and especially not an A
I like Mini for granted, no matter how much she adjusted to having them around. The mech and AI both had brought her through some tough situations when she had been absolutely sure she would be killed.
"We’re approaching Auburn," one of the Knights said. "It appears to still be intact. Thank the Prophet."
"I didn't think they would get here before the balloons did anyway, but it's still good to verify it," Tinker said over the group comm channel. "Let's head in there and make sure all the folk are well and surviving and then we'll figure out what to do about Athena's impending attack."
"Why didn't she simply send her men ahead to take the town?" Jessica13 asked quickly. "Why did they come back to try to deter us if she wasn't already attacking?"
"It could be that she wanted to catch us by surprise," Tinker replied. "Or she simply wanted to slow our progress and leave us little time to mount any defenses. Maybe she wanted us to be in the town while she sets it ablaze."
She turned to look at the hilly grasslands they had left behind in the far distance. It seemed there were some places where sheets of rain fell and would hopefully put the fires out. Others had simply gone out for lack of fuel or wind but a few still burned steadily through the grass and left black, scorched earth behind it. For all she knew, it was simply how Athena wished to be remembered by those who came after her.
Hammerhand indicated for them to keep moving and they left the semi-arid grasslands and entered the denser shrubbery, an indication that they were coming into an area with a more abundant water supply.
The balloons still cruised behind them but were now ahead of the storm they appeared to be forming and the rising sun glinted off their steel or aluminum hulls.
Those still tethered to Auburn's bunker were clearly visible as well where they drifted lazily in the winds that buffeted them. They were almost completely useless both to the people of Auburn as well as Athena now that the connection to the weather-influencing network had been severed.
Maybe that was why Lady Hoot was sending her own balloons. Perhaps she wanted to reconnect those that had been lost—as well as likely burn Auburn to the ground. Networks like the kind the weather-influencing system worked from tended to be less effective if critical pieces were cut out.
Aside from the practical considerations, it was a challenge to her authority and also a direct strike against her influence over her domain.
A handful of townsfolk seemed to have begun to use their own mechs for protection rather than simply to help in the fields, although they were unarmed and would be of little use in an outright attack. Still, at least they had made the attempt to participate in their own defense. The pilots were out of their mechs and seemed to be in discussion about something but the conversation ceased when they noticed the unmistakable sight of Hammerhand's Excalibur striding toward them.
She wondered if maybe they would think it was Athena's mech since it was built in more or less the same style. From a distance, they could be mistaken for one another, but closer inspection revealed the banners hung from his shoulder pauldrons, the lack of the patchwork cloak Athena wore, as well the absence of the owl carved into her helm which inspired her moniker.
As the Knights approached, a group from the town began to move toward the bunker as well. In a few minutes, it grew larger as people abandoned their work in the fields to join the new arrivals.
Any hopes that they might have a friendly greeting from the citizens of Auburn were dashed, however, when she saw their expressions up close. Some looked scared, but the majority appeared to be angry.
"What is their problem?" she muttered, more to herself than to Mini.
"It could be that they saw the fire or at least the smoke from the burning town and want answers about that," he suggested. "Or they can see the storm clouds gathering in the distance and want to know about them."
"But why do they seem angry with us?"
Mini paused. "I have no idea. Maybe they are angry at the situation rather than with us and simply think we can protect them. Or perhaps they think we are to blame.”
Either of his situations might have made sense, but she was too tired to consider them fully. All she could think was if these people wanted to know about what happened to the other town or the clouds approaching them, there was a nicer way to go about it than approaching the Knights in what looked like a mob.
They pointed fingers mostly at Hammerhand, who seemed unperturbed by the less than warm welcome and simply led his team on.
When the townsfolk reached them, a leader stepped forward from their ranks—likely the man they had elected as their mayor from the look of his clothes—and advanced directly on Hammerhand himself. It was as if he had scant regard for the fact that the man who stood in front of him piloted a massive mech designed for large-scale warfare against ships in the sky from space. His apparent assurance seemed more incongruous given that he wore only fancy-looking clothes that were a little too big for him.
"What happened to our neighboring town?" he asked and spoke loudly to make sure all the people behind him could hear as well. "Did you attack them as you did us?"
The Knights leader made no answer, possibly because he wanted to give him the opportunity to have his say before he responded.
"You took the town in an attack that was unprecedented," the man shouted and looked around in a way that suggested he was actually addressing the people. It seemed fairly obvious that he attempted to rouse the crowd of Auburn citizens for his own purposes. "Your people came into our town in the dead of night to take what wasn't yours and intercede in events you had nothing to do with. You interfered without the consent of the people of Auburn."
Jessica13 leaned forward to study him more closely. "Wait, I think I recognize him. Yes…he was in the town when I infiltrated as a peddler. He was one of Athena’s agents and actually approached me. I was talking to one of the younger women and he was her stepfather—Barrios, I think his name was."
"Well, that explains why he's trying to turn the townsfolk against us," Tinker said and scowled at the group of citizens that grew steadily angrier with every word from their new mayor. "He is Athena's man and is therefore trying to work for her while he maintains his own anonymity."
"Why don't we tell them that?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Even if we manage to present them with proof of it—which I doubt we could—he would be able to say it is only a ploy to remove him. Mobs like this cannot be swayed by logic, especially when they are whipped into a frenzy."
"What can we do?" She sensed the growing hostility take a turn for the worse when a group arrived and joined the rear of the crowd with comparatively small improvised weapons. Others, seeing this, began to return to their homes and places of work to collect weapons of their own. Pitchforks and plowshares obviously wouldn’t do much damage against the mechs they tried to threaten, but she could tell that the end this careened inevitably toward was not a happy one.
"Nothing, really," Tinker said. "Hold your ground, try not to get involved if they decide to fight, and protect yourself without hurting anyone around you. They'll eventually take our lack of hostility and their inability to disable the mechs on their own to mean that it is an effort in futility and be more open to calm, rational debate. Of course, the time lost will be to Athena's benefit, and we can only hope they run out of heat quickly and allow us sufficient opportunity to deal with her when we have to."
Jessica13 nodded. There would be no need for the rifle on her back, but Mini had shown her there would be some use for the grappler if they used it correctly.
"Mini," she said and called up the controls for the grappler, “do you think there might be some way to temporarily reduce the power in the air gun for the grappler when we disengage it from the dart?"
"Yes, the settings are adjustable," he confirmed. "It would likely have to be done manually if you didn't have an AI to operate it, but thankfully, you do, and so—"
"Yes, I do, and I'm eternally grateful for that," she said
briskly. "So there's no need to remind me constantly of how useful you are. Well, it might be a good idea to make sure I don't take you for granted, but at the same time, choose your moments, yes?"
"Understood. I will only remind you of how useful I am to you when we are not in some form of danger," he agreed.
"That is appreciated," she replied with a small smile. "Now, get it ready."
Mini did as he was told and pulled the grappler around and away from the dart it usually fired to give them space to operate from as she backed away slowly.
Unfortunately, that action on its own was enough to call the attention of Barrios, who still attempted to whip the citizens into a violent mob.
"That one!" he shouted, almost frothing at the lips. "She was in our town under false pretenses while she studied our defenses in preparation for the attack her people were planning. Now, she presents herself in our town like some kind of hero and not the infiltrating spy she is."
Jessica13 scowled and fought the urge to smack the man across the mouth, mech and all. Like Tinker said, they needed to hold off on anything they might do unless they had to protect themselves. Maybe not allowing them to damage their mechs and keep them from injuring themselves, but aside from that, there was to be no attack on them. Not only that, but speaking would only serve to rile the townsfolk further, as he had also mentioned.
"I'm glad Windchime isn't here to see this," she said softly as the group of townsfolk pushed closer and the mood seemed to escalate toward a peak that definitely suggested violence.
"Why do you say that?" Tinker asked.
"You remember how he struggled with his guilt over what we'd done in Auburn," she said. "It might not have been a problem on its own, but to him, it caused the town to be destroyed and the people killed.”
“It was a shared guilt, lassie. We all had a part to play in it, and you know I believe that as the leader of the group, I had more responsibility—”
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