Bulletfoot One

by Marshall Rust

  Jessica13 fell into the back lines to provide support once more and fired at those she could while her teammates drove forward in a powerful assault that decimated the lines of Athena's men by half almost without effort. Their leader used his shield to push them back and his hammer to finish, while the others delivered killing blows to those adversaries not directly in his path.

  Athena's men were separated by the wedge and shoved aside and into the streets of Auburn. Once they lost their group formation, the combat quickly devolved into a group of smaller skirmishes. One of the teams that still managed to find a way to resist was led by two Guardians that used their plasma cannons to keep the Knights at bay.

  They seemed to reach a stalemate when the team was forced to take cover behind Hammerhand's shield.

  "I have an idea," Mini said.

  "I won’t like it, will I?" Jessica13 responded cautiously.

  "Well, you have been fairly reckless all day so I'm fairly certain you will," he told her.

  The AI still had control of the grappler arm, and with a quick shot of the new dart, the cable was launched to the top of one of the taller buildings near them. The retractor was quickly engaged and the building was stable enough to allow them to climb the side of it without tipping it, which gave them a view over Hammerhand's shield.

  They were exposed as well, but the Guardians below and the Lancers in the formation were too occupied with the Knights they confronted to care about a small support mech that overlooked their position.

  "What are we doing here?" Jessica13 asked.

  "There is a weak point on the cannons that can be exploited on the Guardian mechs," Mini explained and highlighted it. "If exposed to oxygen, the plasma slugs will overheat. They will either expand in the cannon and jam it or cause a backfire that damages the mech itself."

  After a very brief moment of thought, she decided that either scenario was acceptable and took aim at the closest Guardian. Rather than rush it, she gave herself time to follow the weapon's motions carefully before she pulled the trigger.

  There was no backfire but the stream of superheated plasma slugs came to a halt as the last round expanded and jammed the chamber shut.

  Jessica13 adjusted her aim to the second Guardian, who realized they were under fire from above and scanned for targets. Her heart seemed to jump in her throat as the massive canon swiveled to aim at her and she squeezed the trigger almost without thinking and held her breath.

  The bullet penetrated the weak place on the mech and the explosion that erupted was thunderous. It ripped the rifle free from a hand that was instantly transformed to mostly charred junk metal. The Guardian stepped back and the pilot almost instinctively knew they were in trouble.

  Hammerhand, seeing their sudden advantage, pressed the Knights forward in a concerted attack and rapidly defeated those who still stood their ground.

  A few realized the danger they were in and tried to make their way surreptitiously out of the twisting streets of Auburn, but they were quickly overtaken and eliminated. None of Athena's men thought to drop their weapons and beg for mercy. Surrender was no option for them. They would either run or die.

  And die they did. As the last mech fell, the Knights turned their attention to the balloons and airships overhead. While the battle raged, no one had thought of the airborne threat and they had gradually descended—possibly, Jessica thought, to increase the effectiveness of the lightning bolts at a shorter range. It seemed, however, that Athena also knew that defeat was imminent and now attempted to withdraw them from the battle as the lightning they delivered was not enough to pass through the grounding towers.

  "Tear them out of the sky," Hammerhand roared, and the Knights turned their fire upward to deliver volley after volley of rounds into the slow-moving airships and balloons.

  The latter were easily punctured and perforated and immediately lost altitude, and even the armored airship was not built to sustain the kind of firepower the Knights released. Its nose inched earthward until it lost what held it in the sky and gained speed to careen toward a collision that was difficult to miss, even from a distance.

  It was marked by a bright yellow explosion and pieces were flung hundreds of meters away, still in flames. Jessica13 raised her fist, unable to restrain a cheer as she realized that the sky now began to clear to display the brilliant reds and purples of the sunset.

  Hammerhand raised his fist as well and bellowed something she couldn't understand in a language she had never heard before. The Knights swiftly took up his call.

  The feeling of jubilation was exhilarating, and she didn't want to come down from her position at the top of the building from where she had a clear view of the flames of the last of Athena's attacks.

  "Do not be afraid of them," Hammerhand roared to his followers as their voices quieted. "For they have been delivered into your hands. Your victory is your own. This is the victory that has overcome even the world and your faith has prevailed.”

  The Knights responded with another roar, echoed by the local townsfolk who had come to their aid. They’d had little to offer except their bravery and ingenuity, without which the victory would not have been possible.

  As the sun slid beyond the far horizon, Jessica13 caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Flashes of light flickered in the distance, probably near the bunker where Athena had established her base.

  "What—" She turned to the other Knights, some of whom had already noticed it and were equally as confused and a little alarmed, as she was.

  As if by an unspoken agreement, the group moved toward the top of the hill for a better view. Suggestions of movement in the distance were caught in the somewhat distorted illumination provided by the still-burning airship and the light that flickered from the far tower.

  Suddenly, the light solidified with a crack that resounded across the plains. It seemed to possess an unnatural power and visibly bent the grasslands away from it in a ring that spun and arced around the tower. Jessica13 recalled seeing a similar effect from Athena's spear when they had spied on her at the church. The light from it was blinding, almost like a second sun, and painted the increasing stream of motion vividly against what had been growing darkness. The scene held an eerie quality like the impossible had been birthed by the crackling, shuddering white illumination.

  The sight took Jessica13's breath away. Athena’s forces marched in what looked like synchronized formation. Entire companies of infantry to mechs were organized into square blocks and pushed across the open grasslands like legions of the Ancients.

  It seemed impossible, yet there was no denying the evidence. Her mind immediately tried to find explanations, still in rebellion because she hadn’t even considered the possibility that so many people could live Outside. Had the woman gathered them from farther afield? Had she recruited from the Cities-That-Were, or were these smaller communities she’d assimilated and bullied, coerced, or wooed to her cause? How far did her power stretch to create and sustain a force of that magnitude?

  Hammerhand moved ahead of the Knights, who stared at the sheer numbers that marched inexorably toward them. Victory had seemed sweet for the few moments they’d had in which to enjoy it but now, it was a little bitter. It was as if a precious promise had been stolen from them before they could take hold of it, the approaching horde a mockery of their jubilation and achievement.

  Their leader, however, seemed to look beyond the main army as if to discount the ranks of Lancer mechs led by dozens of Guardians, all armed to the teeth and ready for a fight.

  His gaze sought and found the one thing that hadn't been a part of their previous battles. Jessica13 knew he had expected to face Athena from the moment they had decided to turn aside from their search for Citta del Mar toward the towns that needed their help. She had wondered about the woman’s absence herself and now realized that for him, the victory must have been tainted by the knowledge that it was far from over. While the tyrant remained at large, victory would never be complete.
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br />   Her gaze finally located another massive, hulking Excalibur mech much like his, and yet not. A long, tattered cloak hung from its shoulders and a spear in its hands crackled with electricity in a mirrored replica of the tower behind it. The shimmering visage of an owl was carved into its helm.

  Hammerhand stood motionless, his demeanor unreadable. It could have been either expectation or resignation and acceptance of the inevitable but either way, this was what he had waited for. He evidenced no surprise at the seemingly endless legions of Athena's men who came to a halt with one gesture from the woman herself. She stood well in advance of the rest of her army, supremely arrogant and sure of her invincibility.

  "There's no way to defeat this," Jessica13 said softly.

  "Do you want to hear the odds?" Mini asked.

  She shook her head, her eyes irresistibly drawn to the Excalibur mech that stood on the hilltop almost three full klicks away. Her presence was such that even the distance couldn’t obscure her and she somehow seemed much closer to the gathered Knights.

  For a moment she stood in silence, the only sound in the air the distant crackle of thunder amidst the storm that approached. Her cloak whipped in the wind and she raised her spear in a challenge.

  "So, Hammerhand," Athena called over the radio, "we meet again at last."

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Lightning flickered vividly across the sky once more—or, possibly, it flared from the bunker tower in the distance. Jessica13 wasn't sure which but decided it didn’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. It faded into relative insignificance when she focused on Athena, who marched at the front of her army toward the town of Auburn.

  Mini pinged the HUD of the Minato and caught her attention almost immediately. "Your raised heart rate and dilated pupils indicate that you are currently in a state of choice between fight or flight."

  "We can't fly. Right?"

  "The Minato is incapable of flying, yes, but in this case, flight means running away."

  She settled into the controls of the mech. "Flight means running away?"

  "It’s likely an indicator of the fastest way for someone to run away, although not for everyone. It's not important as the fight or flight instinct was what I referred to rather than the action itself."

  She scowled at the indicator on her HUD. "I won’t run away. The Knights Mechanica still need me to stand by them, especially in the face of this…"

  Her voice trailed off for a few seconds as she stared at the approaching army.

  "I didn’t think you would. But the instinct would be there. Fear and terror are indicative of a human's response to impending danger."

  "How does that help us now?"

  "It doesn’t, but it should be noted that your heart rate has dropped over the duration of our conversation, so I would say there was at least one benefit from the discussion."

  Jessica13 stared forward and realized the AI was right. A hint of terror remained in her gut, but the heart-wrenching knowledge that she would probably die in the coming battle was gone. She stood beside some of the best fighters on the planet, as far as she knew.

  They were led by Hammerhand, who manned one of the few Excalibur mechs in the world.

  Those two facts provided a little hope, at the very least.

  "What do you think our chances are of surviving this?" She was determined to stop herself from descending into panic like she had been before.

  "Do you want to know the actual odds?"

  She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

  "I would put the odds of surviving the night at around seventy-eight point three-two to one. That is slightly worse than those for the battle we recently fought. I could inform you of the variables that went into the calculation."

  "How… No, I don't think that would be a good idea. Merely knowing we are in a worse position than we were in earlier today is enough. Honestly, I'd rather not test the fight or flight instinct you mentioned."

  "Understood. Although it would probably be best for you to do as Windchime has repeatedly told you to do and stay away from the fighting. At least now, you have a way to inflict damage from a distance."

  Jessica13 checked the rifle she carried. She still had sufficient ammo and she didn't need to head to the Beast to reload yet. Besides, the chances were that she would have to access their supplies to take ammo to the team on the front lines before she ran out anyway.

  Hammerhand seemed to have snapped out of what she believed was a moment of speculation. With the mech, it was impossible to read his reaction but she had wondered if he felt the same thing she did. In her case, it was all-encompassing terror, but she wasn’t sure if he was even capable of something like that at this point in his life.

  "They'll arrive by nightfall." The man's booming voice had a calming effect on the other knights. They had all communicated between themselves and the entire team suddenly came to a standstill when his voice thundered through Auburn. "We will be prepared for their arrival. Get those barriers working again, and I want to see all the battle lines drawn up within the hour. Go!"

  The last syllable was enough to snap both the Knights and the Auburn townsfolk out of the fear-induced stupor they had apparently all slumped into. They jerked into action and immediately set to work. A large part of the town had been destroyed in the combat, but the overall sentiment among the people and the knights alike appeared to be that reconstruction and mourning could wait until a time when they didn’t face an impending assault.

  Mayor Edgar Jones had already gathered the people and now organized them into workgroups that would collect the rubble, chunks, and pieces and arrange them into defensive constructions. He called on those knights who could be spared for help to carry the heavier loads.

  Jessica13 noted that, in the meantime, Tinker had moved to where Hammerhand stood. The older man climbed out of his hybridized mech and began to work on their leader’s Excalibur. Being struck by lightning was no small thing, even for a mech that size. By the looks of it, they were running a handful of diagnostics to make sure none of the vital functions were permanently damaged by the strike.

  She understood their concern. Their chances were already slim against Athena and her army. If Hammerhand wasn't able to fight at full capacity, their fate was all but sealed.

  With the other mechs quickly engaged in preparing the town for the fight, she proceeded toward the two men with the intention to offer her help.

  Tinker turned to see who was approaching and waved her closer. "Jessie, fantastic. I need to perform a miracle or two to get this damn thing working again, and you'll have to help me. Come on up, lassie. Don't be shy. And bring those frequency adjusters on the way, would you?"

  She climbed out of her Minato and collected the tools the man had left at the boot of the Excalibur.

  "Why will they only attack at nightfall?" she asked once she was halfway up the leg and handed the pieces to Tinker.

  "Well, I assume they're not here for a friendly chat. Now hand me the…tumblers, yes."

  Jessica13 knew what was needed to install a frequency adjuster and had the tool waiting for him. "Well, by the looks of it, they'll reach here at least an hour before sundown. Why would they wait until nightfall to attack?"

  "It's her way." Hammerhand's voice boomed again and almost shook her free from her perch with the vibrations alone.

  "That…doesn't explain much," she muttered and hoped he wouldn't hear her.

  He did, though, and chose to explain. "Observe the way she has her forces marching in formation like it's some kind of a parade. They have the intention to instill fear and terror prior to the attack. Besides, fighting at night only serves to enhance the feeling of fear for those under attack. Athena sees terror as a weapon to be used to advantage and takes it very seriously."

  While they spoke, Mayor Jones rushed to where they stood and maintained high ground to enable him to keep an eye on the approaching enemy.

  "Master Hammerhand, if I could have a word?" The man looked tiny c
ompared to the massive Excalibur, which was why he shouted to get the knight’s attention.

  "There is no need to raise your voice, Mayor," the Knights’ leader replied, careful not to move the mech.

  "The preparations for the fight are underway. I would like to discuss the battle plan with you."

  "Our best chance would be to prevent the enemy from reaching the city," Hammerhand asserted. "We will need to control the access points to the town to keep the invaders at arm's length and away from where they can do the most damage."

  "If I may offer another plan?" Mayor Jones looked timid at the prospect of even suggesting any changes, but when there was no response from the knight, he grew a little bolder. "There are those among us who feel the battle will be better suited to our particular situation should Lady Hoot's fighters be drawn into the town."

  Hammerhand's head twisted to look more closely at the mayor. "Your people would be willing to risk their homes in such a fashion?"

  "They feel there will be no homes to risk should we suffer defeat."

  Jessica13 and Tinker continued to work as their leader paused to think about the suggestion.

  "Using the narrower streets of the town would allow us to funnel them in and counteract the advantage of their numbers."

  "You will notice as well that they appear to be armed with weapons better suited to a pitched battle out in the open," Tinker interjected and continued his efforts to restore the Excalibur to full functionality. "Drawing them into a situation where their longer-range weapons would be useless could also prove effective."

  She could almost see the gears turning in Hammerhand's head as he inspected the fighting force that approached. "This is true. The rifles, launchers, and artillery would be better suited for a fight out in the open but would be almost fully inhibited by the tight confines of the town's streets. Make it so."

  The mayor appeared excited that his plan had been accepted. "Fantastic. We have already begun to plot choke points and set up traps and the like to funnel their numbers even more."