Or it could be that she was suddenly very aware of the consequences if she should fail. It seemed certain that the prisoners would die anyway, of course. However, she was as likely to be executed alongside them since that appeared to be the kind of justice Mayor Jones was determined to mete out.
There would be no leniency for her being a member of the Knights this time.
She studied the structure for a few seconds. The wooden stakes were set into the ground and buried almost a half-meter into it if she didn't miss her guess. Her heart thudding, she took a few steps back.
"Be ready to catch whatever falls," she said, aimed the grappler at the nearest log, and pulled the trigger. The dart buried itself between two of them. Something that was usually so quiet when compared to the gunfire and explosions of the battlefield suddenly sounded like it could be heard for kilometers.
Instinctively, she froze in place for a few seconds and listened for anything that might indicate that alarms had been raised. Fortunately, the militia guards were either too far away or too occupied with their card game to hear what was happening.
"Or maybe it's not as loud as I thought it was," she mumbled aloud and leaned the Minato back cautiously.
If she were on her own, it would take a fair amount of engineering to get the logs out of the ground. While not impossible by any means, it would be difficult and time-consuming. With the Minato, though, there was little need for that. The weight and power of the mech were enough to drag them down even with them partly buried.
They began to tip, and Mini took control of the mech smoothly to catch the others before they could thunder free. The mech strained under the weight, but after a few seconds, it lowered the load carefully to the ground. It was impossible to make no sound at all and the slight noise still seemed too loud, but the lack of any alarms once again told her she was in the clear, at least for the moment.
The prisoners inside stood motionless, not sure what to make of the fact that two logs had been dragged away from the walls that should have contained them. She climbed out of the mech and tried to identify faces in the darkness.
"Robert7?" she called, her voice a hushed whisper.
"Jessica13?" He stepped out from the group and looked confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I only came along to chat, see how you were doing, maybe have something to eat—what the hell do you think I'm doing here?"
"Oh, right. You're here to get us out of this place?"
"Of course. Now gather your friends and let's move. It's only a matter of time until—"
Maybe her luck had run out or someone had heard them talking, but her voice broke off when people shouted outside the stockade and the lights brightened beyond the gate.
"Fuck!" she snapped. "Get a fucking move on!"
Robert7 was only too happy to oblige. The group that was with him followed, while the rest seemed as determined not to be there to face execution the next morning and pushed through the gap behind them. Jessica13 didn't much care where those who weren’t from Robert7’s group were going. They would provide a good enough distraction for her escapees to get clear.
She scrambled into the Minato and Mini had already put them into motion before she had even settled inside. Her group fell in behind her as more shouts were heard from around the town. All the others who had chosen to make their escape scattered quickly. It seemed none of them had any intention to stick together since they probably wouldn’t manage to avoid their captors if they remained in a large group.
"I assume this isn't the full extent of your plan?" Robert7 asked as he jogged alongside the Minato.
"Of course not. Let's keep moving toward the APCs over there."
She didn't have time to explain the whole plan to him, which was for the best since she didn't have it all resolved yet anyway. There was no way to know how far they would get. Once they had managed to evade capture, they could decide where they would go.
The dirt around their feet kicked when gunfire erupted from behind them. The militia still had no mechs at their disposal. Most of those that were functional had been sent with Hammerhand and the Knights to help with the battle and the agricultural ones had little value in a combat situation.
The bullets would have difficulty breaching even the Minato's light armor, but the prisoners weren't similarly protected.
"Stay in front of me!" she shouted. "Mini, try to give them as much cover as possible."
They seemed to progress far too slowly, mainly because the pilots had to cluster in front of her to reach the APCs and avoid being shot from behind.
"More are coming," Mini alerted her. "They have circled and are ahead of us."
"Mount up now, Robert7!" Jessica13 yelled as they reached the vehicles. She turned and confirmed that a group of the militia remained in pursuit. "You get in there and drive."
"What about you?"
"Do as I tell you!"
He complied, scrambled into the drivers' seat of one, and started it.
"You might want to reconsider fighting back," Mini warned her as she began to advance on the militia.
"Why—"
"Despite everything, these people are still allied to the Knights. They were the victims of an oppressive regime and could simply be acting out because of it."
Jessica13 growled softly. She knew the AI was right, but running away didn't feel right. It wasn't in her blood.
She turned as the APC began to move again.
"Get in!" Robert7 shouted.
"You get going. I'll come in behind!"
Of course, he couldn't
