Finally, she discerned the outline and realized they were balloons. They seemed identical to those she had seen tethered at the top of Auburn's bunker, but these moved in and ahead of the clouds. Fascinated, she fiddled with the zoom for a clearer image and noticed small, metal nets extending from the front. The lightning either moved from the nets into the clouds or they collected the lightning from the clouds. Unfortunately, they moved too quickly for her to confirm which it was.
"Tinker!" she shouted and turned to locate him. The older man was still with Hammerhand and in discussion about their plans for an attack. "Tinker, you might want to see this."
He turned to her and looked a little annoyed that she had interrupted him but also heard the alarm in her voice. She wasn't sure what those balloons were supposed to do, why they weren't tethered to a bunker, or how they were able to move freely like they were propelled by something.
"What's the matter, Jessie?" Windchime asked and she handed him the rifle and pointed to the place ahead of the clouds where the balloons were.
"What the fuck?" he asked and handed the rifle to Tinker who immediately trained it on the area in question.
"Those are the same as the weather balloons tethered on top of the Auburn bunker, aren't they?" Jessica13 asked.
"These aren't tethered," he said. "And they are what's causing the weather to turn sour, or I'll eat my mech's nuclear power core."
"Imagine shitting that out," one of the Knights commented.
"Given that it weighs half a ton and is about a half-meter square, I'd say I'd have many more problems before I had to deal with shitting it out," Tinker said without moving his gaze from the vessels. "My question, however, is trying to determine what they're doing up there and why they're moving. Or where they are going."
Hammerhand looked up and Jessica13 assumed he had the software to see that far without needing a scope. "They're moving to Auburn. And if they aren't a vanguard for another of Athena's invasions, I'm a fucking pirate."
"That might be true," Tinker said. "Or they could be a distraction—a way to punish Auburn while she burns more towns to distract us. She wants to draw us out and stretch our resources thin, which would allow her superior numbers to take us on piecemeal."
Their leader nodded. "Shit, I should have thought of that. Athena has always been a crafty bitch. This is her land and she controls a great deal about it. We should keep that in mind while moving forward."
"Would her power over the weather be a threat to us?" Jessica13 asked.
"The only threat would be the lightning, and I don't think she would be able to control that, not with a hundred of those balloons," Tinker said. "Even then, it would take tremendous power to destroy even a Watson, much less a combat mech. They've been designed for that. Still, the weather could slow us. The Beast doesn't move too well in mud but it still moves. We'll merely be slowed a great deal."
"And that's enough for her, I suppose," Windchime said. "What is our plan?"
Hammerhand paused and looked pensive for a moment before he turned to face the younger Knight.
"You asked for a way in which to regain your honor," he said and his voice boomed across the group and immediately captured their attention. "I offer this to you now. Choose two of your brothers in combat mechs. Go to the next town on the map and protect them there. Keep Athena away from them."
Windchime nodded and took a deep breath. Protecting the people of the town would be a good way to make up for whatever it was he believed had cost him his honor, and if there was a good deal of fighting to clear them of Athena's influence, so much the better. Jessica13 still wasn't sure why he felt he owed something for helping the people of Auburn, though.
Still, if this would clear his conscience and keep all those thoughts about killing himself out of his mind, she was all for it.
"As for the rest of us," Hammerhand said and addressed the group as Windchime selected his team, “Auburn appears to be next in our enemy's sights. You saw the destruction she caused here. This I swear—as long as I breathe, I will not allow another town to be murdered in such a manner. I invite you to take the same oath. Fight with me with that oath in mind."
Another roar issued from those gathered and they began to prepare for the march. Every one of them was still exhausted from the previous trek and the battle they had so recently been a part of. Hopefully, like Jessica13, some would be able to rest in their mechs while the AI controlled it during the night’s march. Others would try to take turns to rest in the Beast when they could. They didn’t, unfortunately, have the luxury of taking adequate time to rest and would have to snatch what they could without slowing the march. Lives were at stake, and they had more important matters to attend to. When the need was great, people somehow found the reserves to do what they must.
Tinker moved to where she stood and handed her rifle to her. "Are you all right, girl? You do understand that none of what happened here was our fault, yes? You don't have any silly ideas of sacrificing yourself?"
She took the weapon and slung it onto her back. "Athena's actions are her own, and we're as responsible for them as much as we are for the weather or the attack of the Invaders. We have already begun to end her oppression of the town of Auburn, and if she chose to retaliate by oppressing even more people to the point of killing them, that is her guilt. Our only problem is not having
