The other two seemed uncertain as to whether to run away or keep fighting, and both expected the shield to come up again. It didn't, but the hammer did and catapulted one to the side. Hammerhand quickly reversed the weapon in his grasp and activated the rocket again to launch it into the last of the Guardians. It stumbled over the rubble of the fallen buildings behind it and fell.
The Auburn rebels rushed in to deal with the second mech and began to remove pieces. The hammer had caused too much damage to allow it to fight them off.
The second was still active and tried to pull itself slowly to its feet, which left Hammerhand no option but to deliver a killing blow. The hammer swung into the area of the cockpit and crushed the man inside.
More explosions now rocked the battlefield, and Jessica13 stared as other buildings fell to block any chance of escape by the raiders who were still in the town. They attempted to withdraw and clearly hadn't expected the opposition to be this fierce. None of Athena's fighters remained. All the mechs that had worn her colors and adornments had been felled early in the fight, and the newer mechs were quickly disposed of as well.
She raised her rifle to study the edge of the hamlet. The elation that had begun to rise in her chest slowly stopped its swelling when she saw additional companies of the clean and newer mechs begin to assemble on the perimeter.
With her jaw set, she pushed her mech into motion and motioned to the Auburn rebels to indicate that more attackers would soon be incoming.
"I hope the word gets to Hammerhand soon," she said softly.
"Assuming he doesn't know already," Mini replied.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Not at all.
While he knew military operations never quite went according to plan, this now bordered on the ridiculous. Athena had insisted that the operation was necessary and had forced them into an action he hadn't agreed with. Of course, when the hell did the higher-ups ever give the officers on the ground any kind of say over how anything was run?
Commander Maxwell2 had been the leader of Delta company for a while, but he hadn't seen anything that could compare—ever. Casualties like this were unheard of.
"Fucking Epsilon dumbasses," he muttered. He knew the comms being jammed the moment they had begun their offensive was not a coincidence, but any attempt to reach the location of the signal jammer had ended in disaster.
What should have been a simple invasion seemed set to become a massacre. Their people were being slaughtered inside Auburn.
He'd warned them that heading in would get people killed. Their troops would be funneled and their numbers would mean nothing.
There was nothing they could do to make up for the mistakes of the past. All they could do was look to the future.
Maxwell2 picked up the controls of his mech and marched toward the front lines of his squad. Delta Company was one of the finest groups of men he'd ever had the opportunity to serve with, much less command.
Small groups had begun to pull away from the town and managed to find a way over the rubble of the buildings that had been demolished to beat a hasty retreat.
"Fuck," he snapped. "All right, Delta Company, form up. We'll head in to fight!"
One of his lieutenants stepped forward. "Sir, we were ordered to hold Delta company in reserve."
"FEMA City Command gave us the orders to stay in reserve until we were called in to help. If that isn't a cry for help, I don't know what is."
He directed their attention toward the stragglers retreating toward them.
"But sir—"
"Was I unclear, Lieutenant?"
The man took a step into the ranks. "No, sir!"
"Then form up. We'll engage the enemy. Send the signal to the rest of the companies and let them know we'll probably go dark once we get there."
Chapter Thirty-Nine
They hadn't expected this, although the Knights had filled them with some confidence. There was something about their leader, Hammerhand, that inspired them to fight when the thought of running had felt more enticing. It was impossible not to feel heartened after hearing that man talk.
"They're retreating!" one of those close to him stated and the others cheered.
Cameron couldn't bring himself to cheer alongside them. They might have beaten back the first wave of Lady Hoot's attack but that didn't mean they wouldn’t bring in more. Even with the downed buildings blocking most of his view out of Auburn, he could still see the numbers gathered beyond the town limits where they waited for their chance to launch a new assault.
He adjusted his grip on the Cinder's controls and took a deep breath. Maybe he was a little too pessimistic. They possibly needed to celebrate the small victories, so why not let them take a deep breath and enjoy it while it lasted?
There was nothing else to say. He was in the fight with them.
The cheering stopped when they saw those who had retreated vanish quickly into the tree line. They were immediately replaced by another line that displayed none of the same scorch marks or battered armor plates that had been present on those that had withdrawn. The group sobered quickly, celebration already forgotten in the need to prepare to face the next wave.
No orders were incoming, which meant they had no choice but to simply fall back to their previous defensive positions and start the combat all over again from the beginning.
"Do you think the buildings will be safe?" one of his comrades asked. The man also piloted a Cinder and they moved inside together and out of sight.
"There’s nothing we can do except trust that the plan will work again," Cameron replied. He used the wait to make sure his shotgun and flamethrower still had enough in them to face another wave of attackers. "Hammerhand said they would not attack the buildings
