They did as they were ordered, even the newcomers, and advanced but acted carefully to simply feint at the edges of the larger mechs until an opening was found. The Desert Warriors were more reckless, and he could see why. Without a doubt, they had taken severe losses by engaging the heavily fortified enemy and now looked for revenge. They demolished the mechs and hauled the pilots out, kicking and screaming, and tossed them aside.
He couldn't say he approved but at least the pilots were left alive, captured quickly, and bound to be dealt with later.
The last of the Quadrupeds—five of the sixteen had survived the dual-pronged onslaught—dropped their weapons. They had no way to raise their hands to indicate surrender, but the pilots climbed out slowly to show that they had no further desire to continue the fight.
Hammerhand paused for a moment and let the adrenaline from the battle continue to wash over him.
They'd won? How the hell did that happen?
He looked around at the mechs that milled around the entrance and realized they were as shocked as he was. Somehow, even with all their efforts and planning, the concept that they might survive this had never settled in as a definite possibility.
In a battle, that kind of thinking didn't come to the fore until the end.
A familiar if heavily battered Argonaut marched through the group toward him and he opened the hatch to his mech and climbed out.
It came to a halt in front of him and after a few seconds, the cockpit opened to reveal an even more familiar face as the pilot scrambled out to greet him.
"I bet you didn't think you'd see us again, eh?" Hammerhand asked with a small smirk and an extended hand as the Prophet approached him.
"No, and I'll concede that your timely help came as a surprise," the other man admitted, ignored the hand, and moved closer to embrace him instead. "But I did not think nature would allow for an imbalance to exist between us, my friend."
The Knights’ leader stiffened at the hug but returned it awkwardly before both men parted again. "I'm fucking glad to see you survived those tunnels."
"And the same to you. Not that I ever doubted your ability to survive the impossible, but—"
"You did doubt. That's understandable. I had some of my own."
"It’s good to see them thoroughly expunged, then."
The conversation ceased when the rumbling above them finally registered again and this time, they were able to take time to see the effects. Slivers of the cavern's ceiling had opened and peeled out to slowly reveal the sky above.
Hammerhand couldn't help but stare at the slightly cloudy sky peppered with stars and with a hint of gray to suggest that morning wasn't too far away.
At the far right, a blimp moved slowly in the wind and fought to turn.
"What—"
"It is best not to ask until we have time to explain in detail, my friend. And there are a great many details to share. For now, let us enjoy the first sunrise this city has seen in its entire history, most likely.”
He nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Chapter Eighty-Four
There would have been a time when she would have paused to marvel at the gorgeous sight of the sun rising in the east. It cast a bright red hue across the sky as it slid above the horizon. If one paid heed to the old proverbs, it would probably rain.
Today, however, she had no time for it. The sight of the petals opening from the spire to expose FEMA City told of a story that would not have a happy ending for her if she remained.
Athena climbed into her Excalibur and activated it as quickly as she could. She even took the chance to push all the startup engines into a red line to make sure they wouldn’t remain for longer than was necessary.
Her raiders were woken by the noise, and when they realized that their leader was mounted up, moved quickly to enter their assorted mechs and vehicles. They had been with her long enough to know that when she was raring to go, she wouldn’t wait for anyone.
"Fucking asshole," she muttered when she finally brought the Excalibur online. "If he'd only taken to the knife, he would have saved all of us a whole ass-load of trouble. But what does he do instead? Throw a fucking coup!"
"Oy!” one of the FEMA City guards shouted when he saw the raiders mounting up. "Where the fuck do you think you're going? We're to stay here until further orders."
There were only five of them assigned to oversee the raiders and report to their superiors in the city. It was adorable that they thought the orders meant anything at this point.
"We're leaving," she announced loudly and clearly. "No one will give you orders anymore, so if you want to come along, you'd better pick up your step."
"We won’t go anywhere until there's confirm—"
His voice cut off quickly when Athena charged her spear and stepped closer. She thrust her hand forward to drive the weapon through the cockpit, ruin the mech, and kill the man inside.
She stepped away, yanked the spear out, and spun it to catch a second mech that rushed to help his comrade. The tap alone wouldn't have done much damage, but the electrical charge the spear shaft carried was more than enough to overcome the isolators of the Lancer and fry all the circuits inside as well as the pilot.
The rest of the FEMA City mechs froze in place, cognizant of their vulnerable position as the raiders were all mounted, armed, and ready to fight at the behest of their leader.
"Come or stay, I don't give a shit which," Athena snapped. "But if you come between me and where I want to go, you're dead—understood?"
It was an easy decision. They all knew that, against all odds, the city had fallen and they wouldn’t be
