"I—what?" she demanded. "Will we help them or not?"
"Knowing Hammerhand, we probably will," he all but snarled. "But we'll have to contact him before we promise anything. Come on. We need to get to the convoy and give them the good news."
"It doesn't sound like good news," she grumbled but began to move and they headed back the way they'd come to the other Knights Mechanica. "It sounds like you know this mech."
"Less talk, more walk. Let's go!" was all Windchime said as they circled to the other side of the hill and sprinted the rest of the way.
Chapter Twenty-One
She wasn't sure why the news of that particular kind of mech was so alarming to Windchime, whose hybrid was something to be feared by virtually any being that came across it.
It wasn't like she needed to know either. The man had his reasons for wanting to get back to the convoy they were supposed to be scouting for. She had merely been sent to accompany him and likely learn a little something too.
And she had. She'd learned that his was a mech that was better to run away from than fight and that running away was likely the best choice she could make if she had to fight anyone alone. And the fact that someone with a mech that had an owl or bird of prey for a helm and an electrical lance or spear was a matter of some concern to the Knights—or, at least, one Knight in particular.
They reached the convoy after a few hours’ travel and when they were within view, Windchime increased his pace and left her to follow as best she could while he rushed ahead to talk to Hammerhand.
"Do you think he's in a hurry?" Jessica13 asked.
"I would say he is anxious to tell Hammerhand of the news we learned," Mini pointed out.
"He already sent them a copy of the communication we had with the people in need," she said and held her Minato at the same speed as it had gone for the duration of their trip. "Hammerhand would have already decided what he wants the Knights to do. Maybe Windchime simply wants to know what the decision was—is. Or maybe he has something to say. Did he seem a little scared to you?"
"It wasn't only fear, although I suppose there was a hint of it in his voice and reaction," he replied. "It seemed more like alarm. I would say he and Hammerhand have encountered this mech in the past and are not overly enthusiastic about facing it again."
Jessica13 couldn't understand that. Between Windchime, Hammerhand, Tinker, and the dozen and a half or so other Knights among them, they could handle almost any situation. Of course, the possibility of the mech with a spear that could disable other mechs was a concern, but given that Taylor, in particular, could pick one off from about a klick away, it couldn't be that much of a problem.
But Windchime was concerned and she didn't know what to make of it. He didn't appear to be the kind of person who would panic for no reason.
The convoy really was something interesting to watch. A group of the mechs walked and kept their weapons primed and ready in case of attack, but not all the Knights were there.
One or two were in the Beast that was dragged by a couple of larger motors with tracks to pull it across almost any landscape. Tinker had put considerable work into the Beast of Burden, which was almost like his mech away from his actual mech. It was about half the size of a battleship and worked as the supply train for the Knights when they needed to move over longer distances. It could also be converted into a small fortress if they needed to defend themselves from attack.
Jessica13 had never seen any attack come to that. Most of the time, the Knights tended to be the aggressors to drive pirates and the like away from those who might need their help.
It was either that or helping to defend the bunker in need of rebuilding. They had stuck close for as long as the people had needed them before they finally headed out. As nice as it had been of them to maintain some semblance of defense, they had also been a drain on resources. Once the bunker’s occupants had managed to restore their own defense systems, they were ready to rebuild their homes and make everything better for themselves.
Which meant it was time for the Knights Mechanica to move on once more and find others who might need their help and clear the Earth of the evils of the pirates who roamed their world.
It was an odd way to live but given that they were able to live their lives in their own way, it made sense for them to dedicate themselves to helping others in any way they could. She liked that. The desire to make her own choices and live by her own standards was why she had parted ways with her old bunker and started out on this new life of hers. It was more dangerous but also more adventurous.
Jessica13 had been told that her father had done the same and that even the life among the Knights Mechanica had been too constricting for him. He'd left Sanctuary before she could even form much more than a vague memory of him and had left the Knights not long after that. All she really had left was a small exposure on ceramic, a picture of him and her mother. There wasn't much of it to see, and she'd needed to break it into smaller pieces in order to keep at least their faces when making her escape.
She had hung the picture from one of the exposed wires inside her cockpit. It was something she liked to look at from time to time, not really because she missed the people displayed but because it was a connection to where she'd come from.
Others might have thought it odd but it wasn't the only odd thing about her and was probably not even what stood out the most.
As she approached, the convoy was brought to a halt due to orders from inside. Hammerhand's massive Excalibur hung from a harness that had been rigged especially to support its weight. Beside it were Tinker's and a few others who were currently inside the beast. Maybe the news that Windchime had brought for them was enough to make the leader call a meeting.
She moved within earshot of the mechs around the Beast and it appeared they were talking about the same topic.
"They're not pirates," one of the Knights insisted. Jessica13 thought she recognized Taylor’s voice, but not from the mech she'd come to recognize as his. "No pirate is that well equipped. They weren't handing out the electro-lances to simply anyone back then."
"And how the hell would you know?" one of the others asked.
"They weren't. That's why you don't see anyone but Hammerhand in an Excalibur. They saved the better mechs and weapons for the people they knew could use the damn things."
She looked around at the group, not entirely sure how they felt about the matter.
"What do you guys know?" she asked finally.
The group fell silent and turned to look at her.
"I thought you were one of those who brought the news back," Taylor said and moved to where she could now see his Sherlock mech. "Shouldn't you know more about this?"
"I heard one of the messages, sure, but I feel like I'm missing the bigger picture around here," Jessica13 replied and looked at the Knights. "Windchime seemed genuinely concerned when he heard the description and for the life of me, I can’t understand why."
"It’s hard to say for certain out there," one of the older Knights said. "But that kind of weaponry and those ornaments are particular to a couple of bunkers out to the east. They have a few Outside settlements too, but they mostly only have farming equipment. If they're attacked by the bunkers near them, it's never a good thing."
"Is there any way to tell for sure?" she asked.
"Not unless you want to head on over yourself, knock on the door, and hope they're willing to show you," Taylor said and laughed.
"You're an asshole," she told him bluntly, shook her head, and moved toward the Beast.
"With that said, I would say a bird of prey on the helm would indicate that it's from the Eyrie bunker out east," one of the other pilots pointed out. "If the transmission came from one of the towns in that area—Facor or Bennings, maybe—that would give you a good idea of where it was coming from and who is attacking them."
Jessica13 shrugged. She didn't know much about the location but she would take their word for it.
One didn
't need to climb out of their mech to enter and she didn’t intend to for the moment. If she had to be in there for a while, she would find an empty harness inside.
The ones at the rear were usually free since they were too small for the combat mechs. It was also where they were likely to swing around more if they didn't lock them down properly. Most of the other knights didn't bother to do that with theirs since they didn't like to stay out of them for long and certainly not when they were moving.
Inside the Beast, slits on the top let some light in but still kept the elements out. She wasn't sure how an opening wouldn't let at least a little rain in, and even after Tinker had explained it, she still hadn't understood it.
It wasn’t anything she needed to worry about, so she simply trusted what the man said and the work he’d put into it.
Pieces and parts that had been collected by Tinker over the years were piled to the one side. Many of them weren’t necessarily useful at the present moment, but as with the new legs the Minato had been fitted with, he had a good instinct for what would be useful in the future.
Of course, with the number of parts they had, all of them were bound to be useful eventually.
On the other side, a few sections had been set up as a basic living area. They wouldn’t live in their mechs constantly and a location to make food, collect water, and simply stretch their legs was available to the knights. There were even a couple of bunks that allowed them to sleep somewhere other than inside their mechs.
It was fairly popular to the point where Tinker had needed to set up a schedule to decide which of the Knights would be able to make use of the bunks at any time. Some had wondered why he hadn't simply set up more bunks, but it was a matter of space. While the Beast was clearly the largest moving object in the area, it was still limited to what could be carried by the engine he had built from scrap.
For the moment, though, they used the small social area near where the food was prepared. Hammerhand and Tinker were talking, and a couple of the other Knights surrounded them, wanting to hear the discussion.
"I don't see how we have a choice," Hammerhand said and leaned back in one of the seats. "We are the Knights Mechanica. This is what we do. When people ask for help, we answer, and that is how we are known. If we become known as those who do not answer a call for help, who can they trust? Who do they call when they are in need?"
"I understand that," Tinker said, pushed from his seat, and paced for a few steps before he sat again.
Jessica13 had the feeling he had done this since the beginning of the conversation to express the kind of frustration he wanted known without actually saying it. A kind of song and dance interaction existed between Tinker and Hammerhand that was fun to watch sometimes. Each was his own man and had different views on a variety of topics, but both respected the other a great deal.
Now, however, they seemed at something of an impasse. She still didn't understand what was being proposed and simply melted into the background and let them discuss it without any involvement on her part. The chances were that she would learn something if she kept her mouth shut.
Tinker finally settled into his seat, stared at the other man, and exhaled a long, exasperated sigh. "Don't get me wrong. I like that our mission is to help as many people as often as possible. It's as comforting as a peach for people to know that the Knights Mechanica are here looking out for them, but in the end, we need to choose our battles. It's a matter of resources."
"I thought we had sufficient resources," Hammerhand responded, ran his fingers across his clean-shaven cheek, and gestured around them. "Isn't that the reason we drag this whole Beast of Burden around with us?"
"Well, believe it or not, there is still a limit to what my Beast can burden," the other man countered and shook his head. "There’s not much in the world I trust more than you, Hammerhand. You know it but in the end, it comes down to the fact that we need to be operational ourselves if we're to help others. With you pushing us a little harder than usual to move across the landscape, we don't have the resources to pull back and turn to fight someone else's battle. What we're talking about here isn't a simple detour, mind you."
Hammerhand nodded. "In the end, we'll be able to find more resources as we approach more of the settled areas. Once they realize we can help, they'll help us in return. A good deed sees a good deed returned. It's how the Knights Mechanica have survived for this long, and it is how we will continue to survive. In the end, we cannot abandon those who need our help to those that would take advantage of our inaction. The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
"And I agree with that." Tinker stood and paced once again. "But you also have to think about how we'll fight anyone when we don't have enough food or fuel to get us there and that even if we did, if we don't have enough bullets or rockets to fight with. We started with a good supply thanks to what we scrounged in the abandoned manufacturing facilities after the Invaders came. Since then, we’ve replenished our stocks by taking from those we’ve defeated. But we both know it only takes one major battle from which we can’t recover much to bring our resources to dangerously low levels. You've pushed us toward this promised land of Citta del Mar for weeks now, and it has drained our resources. We need to stop and recoup what we can and we need to plan. And we certainly don't need to head out to help farmers fifty klicks off our current course."
Rumbles of discontent followed among the Knights assembled. They had all bought into what Hammerhand had said about Citta del Mar and weren't likely to take the dismissal of their hope very well. Jessica13 could at least understand that much and so did Tinker, who raised his hands quickly to calm them.
"Don't get me wrong. I believe Citta del Mar is waiting for us out there, make no mistake," he said as he returned to his seat. "But we need priorities here. If it’s to help folk, we need to do that. If it’s to find Citta del Mar, we need to do that. Ain't no two or three ways about it and we can't have any compromises about it either."
Hammerhand watched the man speak with as close to a deadpan expression as he could muster, but Jessica13 could tell that something angry bubbled beneath the surface. She knew for a fact that he had a strict code of honor and ethics by how he ran the Knights. He saw the world in black and white with no possible shades of gray to get in the way.
And she could understand that. With the way he lived—helping people and making sure those who would hurt them couldn't—she could understand why he would refuse to see that compromise was in any way an option in his world. People needed him to be something specific and he wouldn’t be that if he constantly pondered the ethics or priorities of his actions. Not only that, he wasn't the kind of man used to begging others to follow his lead. He ordered, they followed, and that was that. He was strong, resolute, and powerful when it came to running the Knights.
Which was why it was a good thing he had someone like Tinker alongside him to reel in his sometimes more destructive tendencies. In this case, however, Jessica13 had no idea who was in the right and who was in the wrong.
It also seemed like neither of them intended to back down from their positions. She could understand that too. Hammerhand was a man who was used to taking charge of any situation and, as it turned out, so was Tinker. She had the feeling that neither man liked the other intruding on their territory and both were more than happy to help run their part of the Knights from their position of authority.
When they disagreed on something, it was usually something they butted heads over for days.
Or so she assumed, anyway. She hadn't been around long enough, and this was the first time she actually saw this. With that said, she had seen it happen a great deal with the admins at Sanctuary when they disagreed on something and let it hang over the bunker for days at a time because none of them thought they needed to cooperate or compromise.
Was there any way to compromise in this situation, though?
Hammerhand looked at Tinker, who now paced again. "There is no need fo
r compromise. There are those who need us to intervene on their behalf. We should be able to engage whatever problems assail them, rest, recover, and continue on our way with what resources we can gather from that location."
"That was true when we operated out of the City-That-was," the man responded. "Out here in the wilds, there's nothing to scavenge and nothing to pull out but what bare rock can give us. We have worked with what parts we were able to take from the bunkers and even those are running low. We've pushed hard and don't have the time, parts, or resources for an engagement like that. We're tired, laddie. And you'll find you can't wage this crusade for justice of yours if you're dead or struggling for what we can’t get our hands on."
"I agree," Hammerhand said, his voice loud as he stood to match the other man’s pacing. "But in the end, this is why the Knights were formed. And, to answer your point, we will find the villages or towns that would be able to supply us with what food and resources we need to continue our quest."
"That's assuming we survive the engagement to help them in the first place," Tinker said and raised his voice a little.
"I think you don't give us enough credit," the leader said. "This group would be able to fight any force on this planet. I'd take them against anyone else."
"We do know who we're fighting in this, right?" Windchime tried to interject but they either didn't hear him or simply ignored him.
"There isn’t much we can do if our mechs are falling apart and we haven't been fed in days," Tinker snapped in response.
Tensions began to run high as those who either agreed or disagreed with what was being said argued and each seemed convinced they were right. All of them had good points, and Jessica13 simply couldn't understand why they didn’t attempt to find a way that would work for all of them. If they intended to fight together against outside threats, there was really no point in creating enemies on the inside, right?
She turned to where Windchime stood. Like her, he hadn’t engaged in the debate. Hammerhand and Tinker appeared to have calmed their own disagreement, but it now climbed to a much louder volume among the others in the Beast.
Bulletfoot One Page 25
