The group covered the open field rapidly and without incident and remained as low as they could. She moved more quickly than her teammates and reached the barbed wire that had been erected around the bunker. Steel obstacles had been set up around the taller concrete building that towered into the sky. If kept in place, they would prevent larger mechs from getting within striking distance and so would need to be moved manually as they came closer.
She looked at the enemy mechs once they were out of the field, making sure to stay out of sight.
"Mini, what can you tell me?" she said, her voice virtually a whisper almost without thinking about it.
"The pilots are out of their mechs," he said. "Motion sensors tell me they are seated outside and eating at a small table. That could change over time, but the risk is minimal. Like the group of men at the checkpoint, they do not appear to be ready for any kind of attack."
"Lucky us," Windchime said.
"Can you detect where they would be able to transmit a signal out of the valley?" she asked while her gaze searched the building.
"I identify the only possible point as being at the top of the bunker," he told her and highlighted it on her HUD. "There should be a handful of transmitters at the top that you can disable to stop any transmissions from going out."
"Why would they only have one contact point?" Tinker asked.
"Again, I think it’s because they don't expect any trouble," Jessica13 surmised. "The only other location high enough to transmit in this area was the church at the top of the other hill and it was burned down because someone else used it. I think Athena wanted only her people to have access to anywhere that could send messages out of here."
"It makes sense," the man said. "You won't be able to get to the top of the bunker without alerting the Cinders, and they’d definitely attack."
"They're out of their mechs now," Windchime pointed out. "Which means they don't have access to their personal radios. They're also drinking and eating—in other words, distracted. We take them by surprise and pin them down while Jessie here climbs up and does the dirty work."
Tinker looked at their adversaries, tilted his head in thought, and scratched lightly at his beard. "All right, let's do it."
Jessica13 hunkered in the grass and felt no better about watching them than she had when she was the one who moved forward. Windchime was faster and the other man hung back a little to provide support if it was needed.
The Cinder pilots did appear to be drinking, eating, and generally enjoying themselves as the two Knights snuck up on them if the bursts of laughter were any indication. She couldn't hear much, but Windchime reached them in moments and had drawn his remaining vibroblade as well as both his assault rifles. He pushed in closer than he needed to in order to intimidate them and draw them away from the tables. Tinker climbed out of his mech and moved quickly to make sure the men would have no way to send any communications out.
They were fast and professional like they'd done this kind of thing before and done it together. It was as if they knew how the other would act and react, which in turn created the opening she needed to do her part.
Jessica13 hurried to the base of the bunker, primed the grappler and, after a moment of Mini's help to aim, launched it.
The dart impacted with a loud clang and sealed itself in place, and the retractor tightened the cable immediately. Her teammates had been right. That noise would have been easily audible to anyone who was nearby. She wondered if the folks in Auburn had heard it.
The bunker's tower stretched almost thirty meters, more than high enough to send clear signals out of the valley and to Lady Hoot if something happened.
"Are there any signals?" she asked as she reached the top.
"None being transmitted by the tower," Mini replied quickly.
She crossed to the sections that had been highlighted, climbed out of the Minato, and took her tools with her when she reached the transmitter. It was quick work, fortunately. A simple connection had been established to link it to nearby systems, and she had set up more sophisticated comm systems during her time in Sanctuary.
Of course, complex didn't mean it was any less effective, only that it was a little more difficult to eavesdrop, but there were always more ways for things to go wrong.
Simple was best when simple was all they needed. She had a distinct feeling that it was all that they needed to contact Athena about a possible insurgency.
Only a few minutes later, her part of the mission was accomplished.
"Are we finished here?" Windchime asked.
"There are no transmissions leaving this valley," Jessica13 replied and scrambled into the mech.
"Do you think there's anyone else inside the bunker for us to worry about?" Tinker asked.
"Probably," the other man replied.
"The chances are they will come out to see what went wrong with their comm system," she pointed out as Mini clambered down and angled toward the only door that opened to the bunker below.
She wasn't wrong. A few minutes passed before a small group came out of the elevator that opened. They froze when they saw the three mechs standing out in the open.
"Nice work, Jessie," Windchime said and kept his weapons trained on the new arrivals while Tinker forced the doors to remain open. Mini connected quickly and easily to the system inside the bunker as there were no AIs in place to operate it. Most of it needed to be done manually and only a small group remained there to keep the water and weather systems functioning the way their leader wanted them to.
"Do
