She moved between the houses first and tried to find anyone who had escaped the inferno that ravaged the town. It seemed unlikely that anyone would be able to survive unless they were in mechs themselves—or maybe had some kind of breathing apparatus since the smoke would be what killed most of those caught in the buildings.
The flames licked at the Minato's armor, and scorch marks were visible where they burned into the green paint she had coated her mech with in traditional Knight Mechanica fashion. It would take a little more than fire to get through the mechs' defenses, however. She could feel the heat transferred into the mech, but Mini had increased the insulators in the armor so she would be safe from being burned. The worst damage the mech would see was if a few copper wires lost their rubber insulators.
It could cause a short here or there, but the rest of it was insulated against that kind of thing. For the moment, at least, she was safe. If there were any problems, they would appear on the HUD and alarms would blare long before they became the kind of issue that would end with her dead or injured.
Jessica13 couldn't move through the town without shock at the extent of the destruction around her. It appeared as though Mini was in a similar situation and they simply proceeded in silence and stared at the carnage. Charred corpses were huddled in sections of the houses where the doors had been jammed shut with metal bars that were now all that remained to indicate the occupants’ imprisonment. A couple of bodies hung out the windows, a sign that those who had attempted to escape had been gunned down.
More bodies littered the streets and she assumed those had tried to run. A couple of mechs had been stripped for parts so she couldn't tell if they had been for defense or merely used in the fields, but they had been stripped before the town was set ablaze.
"Great Prophet," she said softly and shook her head. "How many people died here? How many lived here?"
"Census data is not available," Mini said. "But extrapolating from the size and density of the buildings all around us as well as the population numbers of a city like Auburn, an estimate can be made of at least three thousand people living in this town."
"Three thousand people?" she asked and tried to put it in understandable terms. "That's more than they had at Sanctuary."
"My estimates similarly conclude a minimum of ninety-five percent casualties," he continued. "The fire and the smoke, as well as the systematic execution of those who attempted to flee, leads me to conclude that while the possibility of those escaping the massacre exists, it is rather unlikely. Not many people would be able to survive Athena's cruel but effective message, and not without any mechs or defensive armor."
Jessica13 shook her head. "Athena wouldn't have allowed the people under her domain to have any defense. From what I was able to learn from the people I talked to in Auburn, she tried to push her role as a protector against the pirates and the dangers of Outside. She would have seen anyone who might have attempted to leave her protection as much the same kind of threat as the pirates and could have twisted it to explain her actions against them. In doing this, though, she's revealed herself as more of a threat and an abomination than any pirate could ever be. This isn't a message for the people under her dominion. This is a message for us—or, more specifically, a message for Hammerhand."
"The message appears to be that any further attempt to resist her presence will lead to more deaths," Mini said.
"Yes," she agreed. "Although she has to know that these kinds of extremes will only incite him to work harder to depose her, not stop him."
"Do you think she wants a final showdown with him?" he asked.
"It was something she was deprived of in their first confrontation," Jessica13 said. "If she has the same combative instincts as Hammerhand does, I'll bet she is aching for another attempt."
"I suppose that is a fairly sound assumption, all things considered," Mini agreed as they continued to search the town, although it looked less and less like they might find anyone who might need their assistance. "It would be interesting to know if Hammerhand and Athena are related by blood or if it is a relationship based solely on interpersonal interactions."
"What's the difference?" she asked.
"While looking for data that might assist us, I stumbled across other information that might not be relevant but is interesting. From what I have found, the difference would be that those who feel a necessity to conform to siblings’ expectations are more likely to lash out when the siblings aren't present as well as more likely to hide it when the sibling is present," he said. "It might be a possibility to explore should the two run into each other."
"I have the feeling that them meeting again is almost a foregone conclusion at this point," she said but something distracted her and she narrowed her eyes. "Wait a moment—what is that?"
Mini quickly scanned what appeared to be a structure in front of them, although it wasn't shaped like any kind she had ever seen. It appeared to be a manufacturing building of some kind but something about it rubbed her the wrong way although it was difficult to say what.
"Scans indicate a high level of reinforced steel and titanium," he said. "There are also indications that it might not be a structure at all."
"Then what is it?" Jessica13 asked but her question was answered when the scan results were shown on her HUD. Without the smoke and darkness, it was easy to identify arms, legs, and even a cockpit. "It's a mech."
"Larger than any of
