The invaders attempted to stand their ground, but the Knights’ leader decided he'd had enough of defending. Two Lancers tried to stand against him, but he swung his hammer into both of them and hurled them out of his way without missing a step. There was only one target on his mind—Athena.
The newcomers who had tried to harass the Excalibur quickly gave up. They didn’t want to commit to a fight against a mech that large, especially with her being able to hold them out of range while she brandished a shield similar to Hammerhand's when they backed away.
Jessica13 didn't want to miss that fight. She noticed the moment when Athena realized that Hammerhand was advancing on her position and decided to do the same. Rather than show any hesitation or fear, she simply raised her shield and rushed to meet him.
They collided with a violent impact. The shields clashed with a crack of thunder and electricity sparked from the contact and forced both back. Neither seemed surprised by this reaction—which meant they had likely tried something like this in the past—and both dropped the shields as the mechanisms now smoked after the collision. Athena was quicker and thrust her spear toward the chest of Hammerhand's Excalibur. A subtle sidestep was enough to send the thrust wide and he clamped his arm over the weapon before she could pull it back.
The electricity that arced from her spear skittered over his mech, which showed that the improvements Tinker had put work into weren’t only meant for absorbing a lightning bolt. No problems would be caused by the electricity that arced from the weapon.
On the other hand, the rocket on the back of the hammer activated and launched it around to power into her side. Athena was quick enough to drop her arm to block the blow, but some plate damage resulted even though the hammer was forced around. She leaned back, yanked her spear free of Hammerhand's trap, and took another step away as his weapon returned. The controlled swipe barely missed removing her owl-ornamented helmet.
More and more, it looked like Athena had no interest in remaining in the fight. The rest of her men had begun to pull back from the unerring onslaught of the newcomers and as Hammerhand tried to recover his balance from the swing, she retreated to where her men were gathering.
"Where the fuck are you all going?" she snapped and the speakers on her mech ensured that most of the town could hear her, even over the shooting and explosions. "Stand your fucking ground! Will you abandon the attack because of one setback?"
A handful of enemy mechs initiated an organized retreat. When Athena tried to stand between one of the Guardians and the rest of his troop, he circled her with no apparent fear.
"We don't take orders from raider scum," the man replied, careful to knock into her as he passed, and strode to where the rest of the troop began to withdraw from the battlefield.
A few stragglers remained, but not for long. The Knights realized that the impossible was happening and swept through Auburn once more. This time, they cleared the few pockets of resistance until not a single invader remained. Athena had melted away with the withdrawal of her troops and it seemed she had little stomach for a fight without her allies.
There were those who insisted on pressing their advantage against the retreating forces, but it was easy to see why it was a bad idea. The Raptors and Quadrupeds were still in position and launched flurry after flurry of rockets to cover the withdrawal of those who had managed to escape the town.
Once they were gone, the rockets ceased and all that remained was the carnage.
Jessica13 leaned back in her cockpit, breathed a little heavier, and smelled the sweat inside the confined space. Yet somehow, the sweat, grease, and hint of smoke didn't smell that bad.
She pulled the hatch open and stepped outside. All she could feel was the sting of cordite and smoke from the fires, but it was still the most beautiful sensation she had ever experienced.
Actually, when she thought about it, she recalled feeling something similar when she had escaped death at the hand of the raiders thanks to the Knights’ intervention. She wouldn’t complain, but after fighting for what felt like forever, there was little she could do other than sag against the leg of her Minato and rest for a few seconds.
Hammerhand's Excalibur marched through the clouds of smoke that were tinted with the glow of early sunlight. He dropped his hammer beside his mech as a trio of the foreign mechs approached him.
Most of the newcomers were light assault mechs and used spears and vibroblades, with some assault rifles or similar alternatives. The three larger ones appeared to be the only heavies among their number, which also included a few dune buggies and ATVs with heavy guns mounted on top or on the side with the same spikes as the mechs.
She wasn't sure if they were meant to be ornamental or defensive.
Either way, it wasn’t relevant. The three larger mechs reached Hammerhand and held banners up that glistened in the sunlight and displayed desert dunes in gold and a blue sky.
"Who are they?" Jessica13 asked aloud although she was alone.
“I have a working theory,” the AI replied.
“Which is?”
“I have no data to make any educated guesses and as such, would rather not reply until the data is provided.”
The Knights’ leader climbed out of his mech as the three stopped in front of him and seemed to stare at him for a long moment before the pilot in the center mech dismounted as well. Unlike Hammerhand, who was clean-shaven and looked
