"But then why did they climb in at all?"
It seemed impossible for a mech to look confused, but Tinker's did for a moment before it shrugged its shoulders exaggeratedly. "There’s no time to think about that. We need to keep fighting. I think the folks out in the eastern quadrant are in the most need. Get these rounds to them quickly."
She nodded and remained on two feet for the moment since it allowed her to fire from her rifle if she had the opportunity and on occasion, even use her grappler to bring a couple of the unsuspecting Lancers down.
Mini was still able to move them far more quickly than any other bulletfoot would be able to and she managed to eliminate a few targets she felt they could get away with. The Cinders that had begun to stream into the town were the easiest since most of their fuel lines were at least partially exposed and Mini could easily highlight the weak points for her to fire into.
Those tended to explode in a bright fireball, but some had only their pilots killed. Every time the latter occurred, people rushed in to remove the dead pilot and climb in.
Jessica13 had no idea what they were doing, but she was curious to see if they could make some difference. Even moving the mechs out of the way of combat would be a massive help.
Sending her into the eastern quadrant was a good suggestion, she realized, as it became apparent that this was the area in which most of their opponents now focused their attacks, thanks to Hammerhand's presence. He still used his rocket-powered hammer to deal all kinds of damage with every swing. Tinker had devoted himself to hasty repairs to the Excalibur so the Knights’ leader was once again able to bring his shield up when needed without fear that it would fail, although it might only be temporary. She had no idea what the full extent of the damage had been.
This was the first time she’d seen Hammerhand actually fight alone rather than as a part of a coordinated formation. There were other Knights around him, of course, and they worked well in tandem to avoid being crushed themselves. A couple of Lancers stood beside him, as well as Taylor's Sherlock with a Watson in support.
Having a Watson around always tended to keep their attackers honest, she’d learned as she rushed in with the ammo they needed.
She pulled one of the crates from her back and made sure not to fully turn off the mag clamp to keep the second crate in place. The Minato bounded and darted through the battle and a couple of rounds dinged off their armor as Mini continued with the evasion algorithm he had worked out.
Once she was close enough, she pinged one of the Lancers on the comms to catch his attention before she threw the crate over the ten meters or so between them.
He caught it deftly and his AI loaded the ammo quickly as the other called for a reload as well. She moved over to the man and almost froze when she realized that Athena's men had begun to renew their assault. They filled the narrow street they were in and rushed forward.
"There are so many of them," Jessica13 muttered and shivered, although that could have been from the sweat that slowly seeped into her clothes as the heat of the mech began to affect her body. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop yet. They were a long way from victory.
Movement at the top of a building caught her attention and she turned her rifle to see if someone had perhaps thought to try to attack from above. Instead, all she could see were the residents.
Curious, she zoomed in and frowned as she tried to identify a heavy mechanism that they moved across the flat roof. It looked like a fuel tank mounted on wheels, and they pushed it across the top of the building to the side where Athena's forces had regrouped and now drove forward into a concerted assault.
Once the townsfolk reached the correct position, a mechanism lifted the tank, tilted it over the edge, and hurled it over the mechs that advanced on the Knights.
"Shield!" Jessica13 shouted to Hammerhand as she realized what was happening a moment before the tank fell free of the building.
The man in the Excalibur didn't question her call and hastily brought the shield up as the other knights hunkered behind it.
The tank impacted the street and the contents suddenly ignited and exploded powerfully in bright orange flame that spread swiftly to envelop Athena's men in a bright, hot blaze. They seemed unaffected at first until the fire grew in intensity. A couple of Cinders couldn't resist the heat and their eruption annihilated a few others. Those who managed to survive the blast didn't last long as their mechs were engulfed in flames.
While the fire wouldn't reach inside a mech, the air filters would quickly run out of oxygen and the heat would cook whatever was inside in minutes.
In that instant—as if dropping the jellified fuel from one of the roofs was some kind of signal—those mechs that now had Auburn residents as pilots suddenly came to life. They were a little uncoordinated at first, but once the AIs that were supposed to operate them kicked in, they began to move a little faster.
Astonished, Jessica13 could only stare. There were almost fifty, she thought, but made no real effort to count them as they began to attack Athena's forces. The enemy was caught entirely unawares as they hadn't suspected that the mechs of their fallen comrades would turn against them.
The numbers added so suddenly to the defense made Athena's men falter, especially as these new mechs carried their own colors. Confusion in the ranks allowed the Knights that had virtually been pinned down to rally, rise up, and retaliate.
It took a while for
