But at the same time, the Knights needed Hammerhand to take that grief and pain and make it into something that would drive them forward to confront Athena to make her answer for her crimes against the people she had hurt and killed. It would protect the other people in the area and it would help them to see there was a better way.
The scavenging efforts began to wind down. Most of what could be recovered had been gathered and the rest had been thoroughly ruined by the fire. It simply wasn’t worth the effort it would take to make them functional once more.
The group gathered at the edge of town where the Beast waited, and it was immediately apparent that Hammerhand's mood had not improved. He still looked like he was ready to crush anything and anyone that crossed his path. The mood was reflected in many of the group who paced impatiently ran weapons’ checks far more than was necessary. It wasn’t hard to imagine that their despair had turned to hatred, anger, and the desire to avenge the fallen.
Windchime was one of the few who appeared to not share the same state of mind as the rest. He had withdrawn himself from the others and now moved to where Hammerhand stood and communicated with other members of the Knights to coordinate everything so they could head on out into combat again. They obviously wouldn’t have much rest, even though night was falling.
Jessica13 doubted that any of them would want to sleep anyway. The day was the kind that would lead to nightmares.
"Hammerhand, if I might have a word?" Windchime asked, stepped forward in front of the leader, and spoke clearly enough to be heard.
"Of course." Hammerhand sounded a little hoarse.
"I feel like I am responsible for what happened here," the other man said. "There were a great many factors involved, of course, but I feel as though it was my responsibility since we acted on what happened in Auburn, which in turn caused Athena to exact her revenge on the innocents of this town. If you would allow it, I would like to regain my honor."
A shocked silence settled over the group of Knights around her, but Jessica13 wasn't sure what he was talking about. She knew honor was something that was considered rather important to the people she had been with, but there had never been a mention of regaining that honor if it had been lost. It seemed to her that the best way to do that was to simply keep fighting.
But whatever it was Windchime had referenced was something far more important to those around her. She sensed that they felt it needed to be addressed out in the open and in the presence of the rest of the Knights like some kind of group action would allow him to regain his honor. None of it made sense to her at all.
"Mini, do you know what he's talking about?" she asked.
"Nothing in my files provides any indication of what this might mean," he said. "There are a handful of elements in past human civilizations that would allow honor-based soldiers to regain honor if lost, but there are too many for anything other than broad speculation."
She turned to Tinker, who was already beside her. He appeared to know what her question was before she even asked it.
"Windchime feels responsible for what happened to the people in this town," he explained. "He feels that he lost his honor through the choices he made and their consequences and would therefore like the chance to regain that honor by…" He trailed off, his expression grim.
She scowled. "How?" she demanded.
"He wants to donate his parts to his brothers," he explained. "And once his mech is gone, he will take himself into exile with nothing left to his name to die either from the elements or the dangers of the Wild."
"What?" She stared at him in shock for a moment. "Why would he do that? Why wouldn't he simply earn that honor back by fighting harder than ever? Why kill himself like that?"
"To his mind, his failure is so great that he would never be able to overcome it," Tinker continued. "He would rather give the parts to those who need it as a final gift to his brothers and leave the Knights to avoid ever making a mistake like that again."
"No, he can't do that," she protested. "It wasn't his fault. He followed his orders. If anything, I was responsible for heading into the town and putting myself at risk. He wouldn't have bothered to try to retake Auburn if I hadn't insisted on it. If anyone needs to be punished or dishonored for what happened here, it should be me."
Her companion shook his head. "Wrong again."
"What?"
He didn't reply and instead, he pushed forward through the other knights and stepped in front of the group, his thick brows furrowed.
"Windchime misplaces the blame," Tinker said loudly and made sure that all present, including Windchime himself, could hear it. "If there is responsibility over what happened here today and if it belongs to any of us, I feel it lies squarely on my shoulders."
"What are you doing?" Windchime asked and placed one of his mech's hands on the other man’s shoulder. "You don't have to do this for me. I know what I've done."
"I was the superior officer on the scouting mission and I certainly outranked you," Tinker said firmly. "If there was danger in our actions to be considered, I should have done so. As I have said, if there is any responsibility, it lies squarely on my shoulders. It was my decision and I made it."
Jessica13's eyes narrowed. Was Tinker suggesting that he would be the one to head out in what felt like a ritualistic suicide?
"Besides," the man continued," if I had stood my ground when we were still on the road and insisted that we continued
