"You lot sure do seem determined to cover any signs of the attack," Robert7 noted from the back of the Minato.
"They have nowhere else to go," Jessica13 replied. "Leaving this place in disrepair would simply mean they were exposed to the elements. To avoid that, they'll work together and ultimately rebuild the whole town again."
"Why do you refer to them like that?"
"Like what?"
"Them, they, their—you talk about it like you're not in the same fight as they are."
"I'm not from the town of Auburn. This isn't my home, and the moment they no longer need us here, we'll head out again. The Knights Mechanica have much more to do than settle down."
"Your group is the Knights Mechanica?"
She turned her head, even though she wouldn’t be able to see him. Hopefully, he would see the motion and interpret the surprise. "Of course we are. Who the hell did you think it was who put up that much of a fight?"
"Our commanders only told us that the town was in rebellion. We assumed they had bought combat mechs and used them at an opportune time and maybe hired a couple of mercs to add to their numbers or to train their folk on how to fight. But I didn't think the Knights Mechanica had actually come all this way to fight us. I thought they…well, you only fought for those who needed help."
Jessica13 scowled. "And when we saw people herded into a church and burned alive, we realized that the people of Auburn were among those who needed our help."
"None of our people ever did that."
"I saw Athena do it personally. Her and her men in Cinder mechs."
"Athena?"
"You know—the woman in an Excalibur who likes to fight with a spear."
"Oh, Lady Hoot. Well, she's not really one of ours. I'm not sure what kind of arrangement was worked out with her and her raiders, but the general idea is that they are the muscle we would have hired to maintain order in the area."
"Well, they've done a fantastic job.” She didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in her tone. “You did see that they burned a whole damn town, right? They set it all on fire and then hid in it and waited for us to arrive to catch us off-guard while we tried to find survivors."
"I don't… I'm sure the commanders at FEMA didn't realize she would go that far—"
"Do you really believe that?"
Robert7 didn't reply and his silence was telling enough. They had to know what Athena was doing, especially if these towns were the source of food for the underground city. Maybe she had done it without their permission, but without their knowledge?
Impossible.
As they moved away from the center of town, what looked like a militia had begun to assemble. The group of men and women were armed with a selection of improvised weapons. They didn't include any of the Knights in their number and they didn't appear to join any of the work that was in progress throughout Auburn.
It wasn't something Jessica13 thought to question. These people had been through enough and if they wanted to find ways to protect themselves, they had that right.
They turned to look at the Minato as it moved across their line of sight. It took her a few seconds to realize that what had caught their attention wasn't actually her but the man on the back of her mech.
"What are they staring at?" she whispered. "It's not like it's the first time someone's used a mech to carry anyone before."
"Well, I suppose not, but I think what has their attention is the fact that your prisoner is in a FEMA City pilot sleeve."
Mini once again had a point, and she came to a halt when a smaller group of the militia began to approach. She looked at them a little more closely and realized that only some were members of the militia. Those with weapons in their hands and who stood at the edges of the group were, while the others wore the black pilot sleeves she had begun to associate as being worn by FEMA City's fighters.
Robert7 attempted to straighten on her back and had seen that at least a dozen of his comrades had survived the battle, although they looked a little battered and bruised. Some had cuts that showed fresh blood. Maybe they had all recently been rescued from under rubble?
One of the militia noticed her prisoner and raised his hand to bring the group to a halt.
"Don't you mind him…"
"Jessica13."
"Jessica13, right. You can turn him over to us and we'll take care of him for you."
The man gestured for her to approach, but there was something off about his manner and maybe the way he carried himself. He seemed a little too aggressive and it gave her pause.
"Don't worry about that," she replied. "This man is injured and needs medical attention. I'll find someone who can help him and then get back to work."
"Why would we waste any medical attention on this bastard?" one of the women asked loudly, and a few of her comrades nodded in agreement.
The apparent commander made no response to this, either for or against, but fixed his gaze on Jessica13. "Hand him over and go about your business. We'll make sure he's tended to."
"Jessica13," Mini said and drew her attention to him rather than the man in front of her. “I thought you might want to know that the injuries the prisoners sustained are fairly fresh and appear to have been caused by the weapons carried by the Auburn Militia."
She narrowed her eyes. The claim sounded ridiculous but Mini wasn't the type of AI to spin lies out of nowhere. Sure enough, when he highlighted and enhanced the weapons in question, she could see fresh blood which left her in no doubt that they were the cause of the marks on the bodies of the prisoners.
"I
