Some very soon realized that they would lose this particular battle and slunk into the woods behind them. They would no doubt try to regroup and meet with whatever was left of Athena's troops to attack again.
Those who remained were quickly defeated by the now bold townsfolk. Jessica13 and the two other sharpshooters killed the pilots they could while Hammerhand crushed those that were left.
It seemed almost surreal when combat ceased. There were still a few pops and explosions in the distance, evidence of smaller skirmishes to weed the last of Athena's men out, but for the moment, it appeared that victory was theirs.
There were no cheers or celebrations, however. It almost felt disrespectful to stand where hundreds had been killed and cheer. Besides, there was no sense of finality.
While no one actually voiced it, there was a pervasive awareness among all of them that Athena herself hadn't been present at the battle, which meant that more would come. All they could do was pull back, regroup, replenish, and prepare for the next wave, whenever that was.
Hammerhand immediately took control and issued orders. A few were sent into the hills to keep an eye out for any more approaching mechs. Others were directed to help the people of Auburn repair the damage that had been done to their town, and the remainder were given the task of clearing the battlefield of any loot that could be gleaned from those who had fallen.
Jessica13 looked at the sky when the clouds above them began to release rain that fell steadily and extinguished the fires around the town. A few of the Auburn folk cheered briefly for the welcome downpour, but the sight of the balloons that continued to approach diminished their enthusiasm fairly quickly.
She scowled at them and shook her head at the flickers of lightning that sliced through the clouds. A few of them arced and sizzled into the ground below. It seemed almost impossible to contemplate, but if Athena had some way to control the lightning over them or even to weaponize it, they needed to be prepared for that eventuality as well. Tinker hadn’t seemed convinced that it was possible and she’d agreed with him, but instinct told her that this new threat was real despite how impossible it seemed
"What are you thinking?" Mini asked.
Trapped in her thoughts for a moment, she didn't reply and instead, picked her rifle up and moved quickly to where their leader issued orders to those who still waited for tasks to be assigned to them.
"Hammerhand," she called over the commlink and drew his attention. He turned to look at her.
"What's the problem, Jessie?"
"It’s not a problem, not yet anyway," she replied and pointed at the sky. "Do you think Athena will be able to create or harness the lightning in those clouds to strike us?"
He studied the clouds for a long moment before he turned to where Tinker stood beside him in his patchwork mech.
"I suppose," the older man replied, pushed his head out from inside his mech, and scowled when water landed in his eyes. "I didn’t think so earlier, but the way that lightning’s behaving…well, I’m inclined to change my mind now. And if she can do that, it will be a problem."
"I hope that problem has a solution," Hammerhand said and turned quickly to her.
"They dealt with lightning problems in Sanctuary by putting grounding rods at the top of the mountain. The rods made sure the electric charge didn’t strike anything but dirt," Jessica13 said. "I could take those townsfolk who aren't already working to start putting those up around town on top of buildings and the like. They should keep them from being able to hit us."
Hammerhand turned to Tinker to confer with the man in private for a few moments before he faced her again. "Do it. Take what materials you need and get it done. We can't worry about an attack from the sky as well as the ground."
Chapter Thirty-Four
Under any other circumstances, Jessica13 would have thought an entire town working together to bring life to an idea she had based on what had worked in her own past was completely insane. She wasn't used to people actually listening to her or following her advice since her role tended to have her taking orders and making them happen using her expertise instead.
These were different circumstances, however. The knowledge of what was coming and the results of what had happened during the battle they had all fought were too fresh in their minds. Merely the thought that more was on its way was enough to spur them into the kind of action that accomplished things, no matter who it was who gave the orders.
Hundreds of people coming to watch as she pulled together the pieces she needed to build the lightning rods simply felt natural. There was no power to it in her mind, only the knowledge that the rain that fell was a small indication of what would happen once those balloons reached them.
The lightning crackled across the sky, a strong enough incentive to unify the townsfolk in the task to rob the fallen mechs of the copper cables, strip them, and mount them on improvised towers across the town. It wasn't long before even the Knights helped as well and took apart the pieces they could use to mount the lightning rods securely on the rooftops.
Athena was coming, if not in person then at least in the form of her followers, and that meant they needed to be prepared
