"Fucking hell."
Jessica13 swung her rifle to locate the targets that withdrew from her teammate’s attack and tried to set up a counter-offensive.
"The downside of surprise attacks is that if your enemy survives the surprise, they can retaliate," Mini commented.
"Well then, we’d better give them a couple more surprises to keep them on their toes."
"A fine idea, Jessica13."
She fired, thankful that the mech absorbed the kickback of the rifle against her shoulder.
There were many targets to choose from. The gunfire from the streets had increased in intensity. More of Athena's men now swarmed the city. The raiders didn't seem to care and willingly offered themselves as cannon fodder. Those in the clean mechs were more careful and used the buildings around them for cover once they realized what they were facing.
"Look out!"
She looked up. Hammerhand's warning was meant for the Knights supporting Windchime.
One of the Guardians broke through the tree line, the plasma cannon in its arm raised and glowing. The blast was blinding in the darkness, and the plasma bolt streaked forward faster than she would see if it wasn’t for the telltale smoke trail.
All that was left was a smoking crater where one of Windchime's fighters had been. The pieces had been melted by the heat of the bolt and vanished into the soil.
"Get the fuck out of there!" their leader commanded
"There are only a few!"
Hammerhand would have none of it. "I said get the fuck out of there—now!"
Windchime pulled back and Jessica13 took the opportunity to eliminate the mech that stood in front of him.
"Retreat."
The order was clear. Those remaining had done what they were supposed to do, which was to draw the Guardians out of the tree line and closer to the town. They needed as many of Athena's heavy hitters in range of the jammer as possible.
The mechs moved forward and tried to choose their targets from the three that now hurried to safety. The invaders no longer fired at the buildings.
"Jessie, are you ready?"
"On your mark, Hammerhand."
Another shot felled the last of the squad Windchime had engaged. The others had made their way to cover and a few even used the bodies of their own fallen as a shield.
Windchime and his two remaining men slipped into the streets as dozens more of Athena's clean mechs rushed in behind them. The Guardians marched forward, sensing weakness and looking to exploit it.
Jessica13’s mouth was dry. Sweat made her hands clammy and she cleaned them quickly on her shirt.
"Come on, Hammerhand," she whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
"Jessie!"
"I'm here."
"Hold…"
She had held for what felt like forever but resisted the temptation to tell him that. While she waited, she dealt with a few more targets here and there and was mostly ignored by the return fire from Athena's mechs. There were other sharpshooters and it would take too much time for the invaders to locate and kill them all. They intended to attack the town anyway and probably thought the nuisances would be caught up in the battle.
There seemed to be no end to the marauders and the mayhem. Rockets screamed overhead and the earth shuddered from the explosions when they landed. They were all for show, of course, but the knowledge didn’t stop the cold sweat on her hands or the warm tears running down her cheeks.
Jessica13 cleaned her palms on her shirt again and brushed a few of the tears away. If she simply continued to target, aim, and fire, she could hopefully distract herself.
"Jessie…mark!"
She released the breath she hadn't realized she'd held, turned away from the battle, and connected with the jammer to bring up the rudimentary controls she'd set up and started the sequence.
It seemed like nothing happened at first. Shots, explosions, and the screams from above continued.
The chatter had died down, though. She tilted her head and checked all the comm signals that had rushed across the battlefield. They were all dead.
"Huh." She grunted and locked the controls in.
"Did you not think it would work?"
"I had my doubts. That much power rushing into the wiring could have fried all the circuits."
"I won't tell anyone of your doubts."
"That would be appreciated."
There was no word on how the battle was going, obviously, but she could see a fair amount from her position at the top of the building beside the jammer. Athena's men looked around as if to work out why orders were no longer coming in. The Guardians stopped their march toward the city and displayed clear signs of confusion over what was happening.
That was all the signal the Knights needed. Most had remained out of sight and inside the buildings Athena's men had likely been ordered not to damage.
Windchime was among them and his blades slashed into the two mechs that were closest to him. There was more frenzy in his movements than before. She didn't need to see the man to know he was angry beyond words and the only thing that would sate that rage was killing the fuckers who had killed one of his comrades. The pilot who had been killed wasn’t one of the Knights but he had fought side by side with him and that would have been enough to earn his loyalty.
More joined the assault and used their blades to hack into Athena's fighters up close where they milled in the streets of Auburn, unable to move away from the attack and trapped in a situation where their greater numbers had no value. They were unable to find cover, and even if they did, the blades would still find them. All they could do was try to shoot the Knights before they pushed in too close.
But they were well-trained and despite their difficulties, they seemed about to recover from the surge by the defenders when the townsfolk made themselves known. Jessica13 hadn't seen where they had been hiding, but it was impossible not to see their fervor. The Cinders they had
