Bulletfoot One

by Marshall Rust

  "Tinker, I think something’s happening," she said over the comms as she collected ammo from his stockpile.

  "Well, if you haven't noticed yet, lassie, we're in the middle of a fucking battle!" the man shouted.

  "No, I've seen the locals taking over the mechs I and others have left without a pilot," she said, picked up a couple of the crates, and put them on the mag clamp on her back. "They're climbing into the mechs and not doing anything with them."

  He paused in his work to look at her. "Maybe they simply don't know how?"

  "But then why did they climb in at all?"

  It seemed impossible for a mech to look confused, but Tinker's did for a moment before it shrugged its shoulders exaggeratedly. "There’s no time to think about that. We need to keep fighting. I think the folks out in the eastern quadrant are in the most need. Get these rounds to them quickly."

  She nodded and remained on two feet for the moment since it allowed her to fire from her rifle if she had the opportunity and on occasion, even use her grappler to bring a couple of the unsuspecting Lancers down.

  Mini was still able to move them far more quickly than any other bulletfoot would be able to and she managed to eliminate a few targets she felt they could get away with. The Cinders that had begun to stream into the town were the easiest since most of their fuel lines were at least partially exposed and Mini could easily highlight the weak points for her to fire into.

  Those tended to explode in a bright fireball, but some had only their pilots killed. Every time the latter occurred, people rushed in to remove the dead pilot and climb in.

  Jessica13 had no idea what they were doing, but she was curious to see if they could make some difference. Even moving the mechs out of the way of combat would be a massive help.

  Sending her into the eastern quadrant was a good suggestion, she realized, as it became apparent that this was the area in which most of their opponents now focused their attacks, thanks to Hammerhand's presence. He still used his rocket-powered hammer to deal all kinds of damage with every swing. Tinker had devoted himself to hasty repairs to the Excalibur so the Knights’ leader was once again able to bring his shield up when needed without fear that it would fail, although it might only be temporary. She had no idea what the full extent of the damage had been.

  This was the first time she’d seen Hammerhand actually fight alone rather than as a part of a coordinated formation. There were other Knights around him, of course, and they worked well in tandem to avoid being crushed themselves. A couple of Lancers stood beside him, as well as Taylor's Sherlock with a Watson in support.

  Having a Watson around always tended to keep their attackers honest, she’d learned as she rushed in with the ammo they needed.

  She pulled one of the crates from her back and made sure not to fully turn off the mag clamp to keep the second crate in place. The Minato bounded and darted through the battle and a couple of rounds dinged off their armor as Mini continued with the evasion algorithm he had worked out.

  Once she was close enough, she pinged one of the Lancers on the comms to catch his attention before she threw the crate over the ten meters or so between them.

  He caught it deftly and his AI loaded the ammo quickly as the other called for a reload as well. She moved over to the man and almost froze when she realized that Athena's men had begun to renew their assault. They filled the narrow street they were in and rushed forward.

  "There are so many of them," Jessica13 muttered and shivered, although that could have been from the sweat that slowly seeped into her clothes as the heat of the mech began to affect her body. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop yet. They were a long way from victory.

  Movement at the top of a building caught her attention and she turned her rifle to see if someone had perhaps thought to try to attack from above. Instead, all she could see were the residents.

  Curious, she zoomed in and frowned as she tried to identify a heavy mechanism that they moved across the flat roof. It looked like a fuel tank mounted on wheels, and they pushed it across the top of the building to the side where Athena's forces had regrouped and now drove forward into a concerted assault.

  Once the townsfolk reached the correct position, a mechanism lifted the tank, tilted it over the edge, and hurled it over the mechs that advanced on the Knights.

  "Shield!" Jessica13 shouted to Hammerhand as she realized what was happening a moment before the tank fell free of the building.

  The man in the Excalibur didn't question her call and hastily brought the shield up as the other knights hunkered behind it.

  The tank impacted the street and the contents suddenly ignited and exploded powerfully in bright orange flame that spread swiftly to envelop Athena's men in a bright, hot blaze. They seemed unaffected at first until the fire grew in intensity. A couple of Cinders couldn't resist the heat and their eruption annihilated a few others. Those who managed to survive the blast didn't last long as their mechs were engulfed in flames.

  While the fire wouldn't reach inside a mech, the air filters would quickly run out of oxygen and the heat would cook whatever was inside in minutes.

  In that instant—as if dropping the jellified fuel from one of the roofs was some kind of signal—those mechs that now had Auburn residents as pilots suddenly came to life. They were a little uncoordinated at first, but once the AIs that were supposed to operate them kicked in, they began to move a little faster.

  Astonished, Jessica13 could only stare. There were almost fifty, she thought, but made no real effort to count them as they began to attack Athena's forces. The enemy was caught entirely unawares as they hadn't suspected that the mechs of their fallen comrades would turn against them.

  The numbers added so suddenly to the defense made Athena's men falter, especially as these new mechs carried their own colors. Confusion in the ranks allowed the Knights that had virtually been pinned down to rally, rise up, and retaliate.

  It took a while for the tide to turn fully as even with the added mechs on their side, the Knights needed to find a way to identify which were their allies. The enemy were rapidly outnumbered when other captured mechs joined the ranks and they settled into an organized formation that allowed them to drive forward together. Hammerhand took the lead and the defenders gradually edged the invaders out of the town and engaged them in the open fields outside Auburn.

  Some very soon realized that they would lose this particular battle and slunk into the woods behind them. They would no doubt try to regroup and meet with whatever was left of Athena's troops to attack again.

  Those who remained were quickly defeated by the now bold townsfolk. Jessica13 and the two other sharpshooters killed the pilots they could while Hammerhand crushed those that were left.

  It seemed almost surreal when combat ceased. There were still a few pops and explosions in the distance, evidence of smaller skirmishes to weed the last of Athena's men out, but for the moment, it appeared that victory was theirs.

  There were no cheers or celebrations, however. It almost felt disrespectful to stand where hundreds had been killed and cheer. Besides, there was no sense of finality.

  While no one actually voiced it, there was a pervasive awareness among all of them that Athena herself hadn't been present at the battle, which meant that more would come. All they could do was pull back, regroup, replenish, and prepare for the next wave, whenever that was.

  Hammerhand immediately took control and issued orders. A few were sent into the hills to keep an eye out for any more approaching mechs. Others were directed to help the people of Auburn repair the damage that had been done to their town, and the remainder were given the task of clearing the battlefield of any loot that could be gleaned from those who had fallen.

  Jessica13 looked at the sky when the clouds above them began to release rain that fell steadily and extinguished the fires around the town. A few of the Auburn folk cheered briefly for the welcome downpour, but the sight of the balloons that continued to approach diminished the
ir enthusiasm fairly quickly.

  She scowled at them and shook her head at the flickers of lightning that sliced through the clouds. A few of them arced and sizzled into the ground below. It seemed almost impossible to contemplate, but if Athena had some way to control the lightning over them or even to weaponize it, they needed to be prepared for that eventuality as well. Tinker hadn’t seemed convinced that it was possible and she’d agreed with him, but instinct told her that this new threat was real despite how impossible it seemed

  "What are you thinking?" Mini asked.

  Trapped in her thoughts for a moment, she didn't reply and instead, picked her rifle up and moved quickly to where their leader issued orders to those who still waited for tasks to be assigned to them.

  "Hammerhand," she called over the commlink and drew his attention. He turned to look at her.

  "What's the problem, Jessie?"

  "It’s not a problem, not yet anyway," she replied and pointed at the sky. "Do you think Athena will be able to create or harness the lightning in those clouds to strike us?"

  He studied the clouds for a long moment before he turned to where Tinker stood beside him in his patchwork mech.

  "I suppose," the older man replied, pushed his head out from inside his mech, and scowled when water landed in his eyes. "I didn’t think so earlier, but the way that lightning’s behaving…well, I’m inclined to change my mind now. And if she can do that, it will be a problem."

  "I hope that problem has a solution," Hammerhand said and turned quickly to her.

  "They dealt with lightning problems in Sanctuary by putting grounding rods at the top of the mountain. The rods made sure the electric charge didn’t strike anything but dirt," Jessica13 said. "I could take those townsfolk who aren't already working to start putting those up around town on top of buildings and the like. They should keep them from being able to hit us."

  Hammerhand turned to Tinker to confer with the man in private for a few moments before he faced her again. "Do it. Take what materials you need and get it done. We can't worry about an attack from the sky as well as the ground."

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Under any other circumstances, Jessica13 would have thought an entire town working together to bring life to an idea she had based on what had worked in her own past was completely insane. She wasn't used to people actually listening to her or following her advice since her role tended to have her taking orders and making them happen using her expertise instead.

  These were different circumstances, however. The knowledge of what was coming and the results of what had happened during the battle they had all fought were too fresh in their minds. Merely the thought that more was on its way was enough to spur them into the kind of action that accomplished things, no matter who it was who gave the orders.

  Hundreds of people coming to watch as she pulled together the pieces she needed to build the lightning rods simply felt natural. There was no power to it in her mind, only the knowledge that the rain that fell was a small indication of what would happen once those balloons reached them.

  The lightning crackled across the sky, a strong enough incentive to unify the townsfolk in the task to rob the fallen mechs of the copper cables, strip them, and mount them on improvised towers across the town. It wasn't long before even the Knights helped as well and took apart the pieces they could use to mount the lightning rods securely on the rooftops.

  Athena was coming, if not in person then at least in the form of her followers, and that meant they needed to be prepared for every eventuality.

  The rain quickly transformed most of the ground to mud, which made it difficult to slog through it while carrying heavy chunks of metal but none of them lacked incentive. No one wanted to be caught by lightning while having to deal with the next wave of attacks.

  They covered most of the town in an impressively short time thanks to the number of people who had committed to the project. The section farthest from where the battle had ended was left for last since it took longer to carry all the parts and pieces required through the mud and the rain.

  "There's a visual!" a man shouted. She assumed it was one of those who had been sent to work as scouts and wondered why the comms crackled with interference.

  "Visual of what?" Jessica13 asked.

  "Maybe you should guess?" Mini retorted.

  She scowled and could have sworn she heard a sarcastic undertone in the AI's voice. When she thought about it, though, there was nothing in his programming that suggested he was treating her sarcastically. She would have to run a few diagnostics to get a better idea of it later.

  For the moment, however, they needed to deal with whatever it was that approached.

  The Knights, now joined by those who had piloted the fallen mechs, began to gather toward the edge of town on the side where the balloons advanced and loomed ominously overhead.

  "Is it them?" she asked and looked at her teammates.

  "Who the fuck else would it be?" one of the Knights snapped.

  Jessica13 knew better than to take what the man said personally. They were all under a great deal of stress, after all.

  She turned to the townsfolk who stood and stared at the balloons that continued their slow yet inexorable journey toward Auburn.

  "Get those generators running," she said. "Now!"

  They had almost seemed in a trance until she snapped the last word and caught their attention firmly. She instructed them to head to the section of town where a large number of the power cores from the crushed mechs had been gathered and connected to the entire network of grounding towers they had erected.

  It had been an idea from one of the locals, and she had agreed without hesitation. She had actually been surprised by their inventiveness, and the idea to store the grounded electricity from the lightning had been fairly brilliant and easy to incorporate. Given that they didn't know what to do with the stored electricity, she hadn't been sure about dedicating any resources to it but they would have to survive after this and having fully charged power cells would always be useful.

  There would be time enough later to find a use for it once they had all survived Athena's attacks.

  The generators they would turn on would set up the capacitors, which would make sure the power surges didn't short any of the cells out. Working on that would be enough to keep the townsfolk busy for the moment while the Knights determined what kind of attack they would face.

  They had needed to abandon the outer defenses since they would be too far away from the rods and too close to the trees, which could end up destroying the mechs if they were struck by lightning. Unfortunately, this meant they would have to do any fighting that was necessary within the town itself. Hammerhand hadn't liked the idea, but at least the defenses would slow any ground invasion.

  Jessica13 scowled as the lead balloon moved slowly across the final distance and entered the airspace of the town below. With it this close now, she could see it had a prow at the front with a crude owl carved into some kind of metal to display Athena's sigil proudly. None of the others had it, but even one seemed to be something of an announcement.

  Obviously, it was intended to fill everyone who saw it with dread as they looked up and saw storm clouds, lightning, and her sigil watching over it all.

  Lightning flickered through the clouds with new intensity and a few shafts even streaked toward them, caught the rods, and showered the ground around them with sparks.

  Her fingers and muscles ached after all her effort and her entire body begged for some kind of rest before this next encounter. She knew that every other man and woman, Knight and civilian alike, felt the same way. They were all exhausted, drained, and on their last reserves, but none of them would simply lay down and die. They would fight to their last breath.

  As Hammerhand moved in front of the group, they all felt the same dread and yet steady, firm attitude toward what approached. There was no need for heroic speeches this time. They knew what was coming and they knew what th
e likely end would be if they failed in their task. That was why they wouldn’t fail.

  "So it begins." His voice rumbled through their ranks as he raised his hammer and a cloud of steam erupted from his cooling vents. Lines of mechs were now visible as they moved through the trees and approached the line of hedgehogs that had managed to funnel the first wave into their kill zone.

  It would still slow the bulk of their troops—and bulk did appear to be the best description for what advanced on the town—but a few lines appeared to approach the hedgehogs with no intention to find the easy way in.

  Jessica13 looked down the scope of her rifle and scowled. They were mostly Predators and Balthazars that had been stripped to the bare minimum of parts to make them as light and mobile as possible for the attack. They would be able to advance much faster and ahead of the main force and already, the first few passed between the hedgehogs.

  "Hold your fire," Hammerhand communicated to the Knights, who complied and held their fingers motionless on their triggers for the moment while the modified mechs marched toward the second line of hedgehogs.

  Lightning crackled above them again and flared repeatedly as each bolt struck the towers instead of the ground. If there was any question as to whether it was directed intentionally at them, she only needed to look and see that none of the bolts touched the forest Athena's men pushed through.

  A loud pop erupted as the first of the lighter mechs found the minefield that had been placed there earlier. It was no match even for the improvised explosive that had been set in its path and it fell in smoking pieces as the others came to a halt behind it. Surprisingly, it seemed the first wave hadn’t communicated this the second, although common sense dictated that they should.

  "Open fire," Hammerhand said, raised a hand, and gestured at the group that now attempted to find a way through the minefield.

  Jessica13 and the Knights’ two sharpshooters selected their targets and opened fire. There was no indication that the armor did anything to slow the hellebore rounds, and while the AIs were quick to take over, they were less careful to avoid the explosives that had been set out for them.