"It is safe to assume these are not pirates," Mini said. "Can I lower the weapon?"
"Sure," Jessica13 said. "It's not like we would be able to stand a chance against one of those Guardians anyway."
"Put your weapon on the ground!" one of the Guardians yelled.
Mini complied and raised the mech's hands.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Data suggests that humans are less likely to shoot when the gesture of raised hands is offered," the AI said. "Should I put them down?"
"Well, no, obviously, keep them up. You know, just in case."
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the Guardian's pilot said as it moved closer.
"My name is Jessica13," she replied and decided on honesty. "I'm from one of the nearby bunkers. I saw smoke rising from here and I thought someone might need help. As it turned out, I was right."
"Hey, that's my mommy!" Prissy shouted into the microphone.
One of the civilians, a woman with the same bright red hair as Prissy, stepped forward. "Is that you, Priscilla?"
"That's my mommy!" the child shouted again and in the close confines of the mech, Jessica13's ears were left ringing. She pushed the door open and let the squirming little girl out. She ran across the mud and into her mother’s embrace.
"Are these all the survivors?" she asked and closed the door again.
"I’m afraid so," the Guardian pilot said and stopped a few paces away. "They attacked us from the north without much warning, heavily armed and looking to kill people. We evacuated those we could but the pirates got the rest. We came back to see if the bunker was still livable."
"I’m reasonably sure you could vent the smoke, take the oxygen out for a few hours, and let the fires die down," she said and glanced at the building. "That done, you'll have to do considerable repairs to get it working again, but… I guess it's better than no shelter."
"Not if they come back for more it's not," the Guardian responded brusquely.
"Our bunker was attacked a few days ago by pirates," she said. "We managed to fight them off but they had large numbers and serious firepower and almost got past our defenses too. Maybe they have more chavs hiding in some of the Cities-That-Were who came here for payback."
"Your bunker send a support mech to help us?" the Guardian asked and closed the distance between them to loom over her.
"Not really," she replied. Would he chew her out for running away?
The chest compartment opened and a man wearing one of the filter masks pulled clear. "Do you think they could spare any help for us here? I know it's not usual but we're desperate. Not many folks will help us."
"I'm…I don’t really know but I don't think so," Jessica13 said. "Can you contact them?"
"I’m not sure," the man said. "We have a radio but we're not sure if it's working. We tried calling the Knights Mechanica for aid but had no response. "
"I’ve heard of them but…well, in Sanctuary, they’re only a legend. So they are real people?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t try to call them otherwise. In fact, they were supposed to be in one of the Cities-That-Were about fifty klicks from our location. Maybe distance is the issue for the radio.”
“They're closer than my bunker if that's right," she said. "If you let me look at that radio, I think I could fix it."
"I hate to do it, but can I ask you one better?" the man asked and withdrew what was presumably the radio from inside the mech. "You might need to get closer to the City-That-Was. We're all set here but it looks like your mech could move much faster than we can. Do you think you could carry the radio out there and connect with them?"
Jessica yanked the doors open again and stepped out. The man's eyebrows raised, likely in surprise at seeing someone so young out on her own, but he didn't say anything. That made her realize that no one evidenced any concern that Prissy no longer wore a mask, so she assumed those the others wore were to protect them from the smoke. Resentment flared once again because clearly, Sanctuary must have known what these people knew. Now, however, was not the time to dwell on the lies of the past.
She took the radio from his hands. "It's a short-range comms booster and not really the best either."
"It's all we were able to salvage."
She pulled a couple of the wires out and immediately ascertained that three of the disrupter crystals were destroyed. "Nope, your message didn't get out. You're lucky it didn't blow up in your face. Old radios like this had many issues. Mini, do you think you can wire the radio up to your disrupters? I think we might get a better connection."
"It is possible," Mini replied.
"Just a sec." She climbed into the mech and removed a couple of the panels. It took her a moment to find the right wiring but once it was connected, she pinged the comms a few times to test them.
"It’s working now!" the pilot outside shouted.
"Well, the good news is, I think I can get the radio to the City-That-Was to help you," she said as she exited once again. "The bad news is, I'm the only one who can do it."
"Well, we could spare a couple of—"
"No," Jessica13 said and interrupted him. "The Minato can move three times as quickly as your fastest mech and it's much smaller, so they won't be looking for me."
The man scowled but nodded. "I suppose you're right. We do need this done as quickly
