It was harder to watch the men killed outside their mechs than to simply shoot them almost clinically while they were still inside. There was a lack of connection as if the man being killed was simply a part of disabling the mech. No matter how terrible he was supposed to be, it was far more emotionally charged to witness him actually dying.
Hammerhand turned to his team. "Put the fires out so the Beast can come through. Once you're finished with that, we'll strip the parts from these and move on, as is our way."
As was their way, she reminded herself. It helped to focus on the routine. She wasn't sure how they would manage to extinguish the blaze so watched the others as they dug the dirt to spread it over the flames. She moved closer to the Cinder she had shot and realized that while the flames had eventually burned themselves out in certain sections, they had been so intense that the sandy earth around it had been turned to glass. It crunched under her boots as she gathered as much soil as she could and carried it to where the fires were still a problem.
There was too wide a section by now to completely extinguish, but a pathway was quickly created through the flames. Smoke seeped through where they had smothered a section of the fire but it would allow the Beast to travel through.
With that accomplished, they turned their attention to the battlefield and scavenged what they could from the parts that hadn't been crushed or melted. The Beast moved slowly along the route they'd created and carefully avoided the sections that were burning on either side. The parts they collected were gathered and put in the back.
As was their way. The thought came unbidden again, but it seemed to ground her. Despite the trauma of some of the things she’d witnessed, the idea that she was part of something solid and normal and lasting brought solace.
It was all slow, hard work, but it needed to be done. Jessica13 recognized that her body felt like it was at its limit. She was exhausted after a long, hard day of marching and fighting, and she didn't think she could take much more of it.
And yet there were still a few things that needed to be done before they resumed their journey to Auburn. Once again, those who had sustained injuries were attended to, mechs were examined, and any repairs that could be done were completed. Fortunately, the Knights had sustained little damage and most of it was easily remedied.
Thereafter, as if by some unspoken command, the mechs began to fall into their usual formation, ready to march once again.
Tinker moved over to where Jessica13 tried to make a wide berth around one of the dead bodies.
"How are you feeling, Jessie?" he asked as he fell in beside her.
He only ever called her Jessie when he was concerned about her. That much was familiar, at least.
"I'm fine," she lied. "A little tired, though. I thought I might snatch a little sleep on the way to Auburn. Well, unless Athena has left any more of her minions to give us problems."
"I think it’s safe to assume she won’t have. Of course, we have no real idea of the number of her forces but I imagine it couldn’t have been easy for her to have this many people spread out so quickly," Tinker said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we find our way to Auburn clear and clean, although that might change if those fucking balloons keep moving."
She looked up when he mentioned them, and sure enough, despite the delay they'd had while they dealt with Athena's men, they were still a good way ahead of the slow-moving balloons.
The fact that they were still moving inexorably toward Auburn played on her nerves and made her heart sink into her stomach a little. Their slow pace, however, meant the Knights at least had time to reach the town and prepare before whatever it was that Athena had in mind for them arrived.
"We'd better keep moving, lassie," Tinker said and patted her shoulder lightly. "There’s no point in waiting for them out in the open."
"What about the fires?" she asked. "Isn't there something we can do before they sweep through the whole land?"
He looked at the flames that crept across the landscape around them. "I'm afraid there are a few troubles that are too mighty for even the Knights Mechanica to handle. Let us focus on those we can deal with."
She nodded regretfully and ran a quick check on her rifle before she joined the Knights.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jessica13 did manage to get a few hours of sleep while the Knights continued to move across the grasslands toward Auburn. She also noted that Windchime had sent an encrypted message across their private lines to tell them that he and his team had arrived at the next town. A handful of Athena's men was in place, but they wouldn’t engage them yet.
It was a wise decision. There was really no point in letting the enemy know about their presence in the area before they could make a real difference.
The few hours of sleep she snatched were rife with nightmares filled with mechs that rushed through flames to attack her, while she was always unable to protect herself. The Minato didn't respond to her controls, and Mini remained silent. Every time, she jerked instinctively to avoid being injured or killed, but it simply repeated itself when she closed her eyes again.
By sunrise, she decided to simply give up on the concept of sleep for the moment. She'd had some rest, at least, and that would have to be enough for now.
"If you like, I can study your sleep patterns in order to try to find a method to help you
