It wouldn’t last, unfortunately, especially since even at breakneck speed, the Balthazar gained on them slowly and maintained a steady and relentless barrage of fire at them.
They would need help but until then, Jessica13 couldn't help but admire the kind of effort Mini coaxed out the mech.
"Alert, there are mechs ahead of us." The AI sounded calm despite their predicament. "According to your parameters, they are not friendly and are likely to be pirate reinforcements."
"Noted," Jessica13 said. "Is there any way that we can fight back?"
"Not without compromising our escape," Mini replied.
She made a face. "Evasive maneuvers, please."
"Evasive maneuvers starting."
The mech changed direction abruptly while she held on and braced her neck for each impact. She twisted when two rockets were fired at them from the buildings nearby.
The mech’s stride didn’t falter and it surged smoothly into a jump, bounded over to the buildings, and ran a couple of steps along the walls. The buildings themselves looked gutted, with scorch marks that had only begun to be covered by the vines that slowly invaded the rest of the city. Mechs were scattered haphazardly over the destroyed lots and the road, all of them destroyed like they had been at the bunker.
The devastation explained why no one else had settled in the city. This area was a damn war zone and these pirates refused to allow any semblance of life. Even animals avoided this part of the city and any involvement with the monsters who held sway there.
The air around them exploded with bullets and rockets when the pirates sprung their trap. They had obviously hoped to catch Mini and Jessica13 off guard with their attack but had mistimed it and were left to try to keep up with the smaller, faster mech as it raced past them. The Minato repeatedly ran up the walls around them to stay out of the way of the majority of the assaults directed at them.
"Woooo!" Jessica13 couldn't restrain a yell but still braced herself and held on desperately as Mini thrust into a smooth momentum again and raced forward, still ahead of the enemy that continued their pursuit.
To her surprise, Mini trilled with excitement as well like he had when the AI was still dormant. The core itself revealed the kind of activity she had never seen in any of the mechs she’d worked on. It suggested an AI that was fully released and now performed under the harshest of circumstances and reveled in it.
It was something intriguingly new, and despite the horde of dangers they faced, something within her simply wouldn't let go. She wanted—no, needed—to keep going.
This was what she was born to do, she realized suddenly. It was like this was what she had always wanted to be and yet had always found herself held back somehow. This was where she was meant to be and what she was meant to do. Strike and run, using her brains while the skills of her AI thrived under the pressure as all the dangers of her world threatened her from every side.
This was her world and her destiny. Her future was not to be huddled in a bunker, afraid of the slightest movement or what happened beyond the protective confines that held her in check. She wasn’t made to live in fear of anything that might attack. Maybe this wasn't true for everyone, but it definitely was for her.
It reminded her of the piece of junk armor she'd peeled off one of the pirate mechs that had attacked Sanctuary. At the time, the lettering on it had caught her eye and her imagination. She frowned as she tried to recall the words.
"Live free or die hard, bitches!" she yelled almost before she knew what she wanted to say. The outburst was followed by another excited call from Mini. The road made a sharp curve to the left, which would give them temporary cover from the bullets that continued in an unrelenting fusillade that showed no signs of slowing. A few warning messages displayed when the armor was pierced in a few of the non-essential areas of the mech.
She would take the time to repair it when they got through this.
Not if. When.
Mini approached the curve at high speed and rather than slowing, engaged the legs more forcefully to give them extra traction as he tried to take the curve as sharply as possible. The mech twisted them to the left in response and Jessica13 was shoved into the side of the compartment.
When she straightened, she froze instinctively. The Balthazar had launched a volley of flechettes and a handful were on target with no way to avoid them. They seared through the armor like it was made of soup. The alarms blared inside her compartment to warn her the hydraulics in the left arm were destroyed.
A quarter of a second was all it took to reduce her elation to panic as the Minato lost control of its turn, skidded across the pavement, and tumbled awkwardly. Inertia carried them across the street and into the building that blocked their path.
Jessica13 felt the impact of the mech with the structure and it drove through it almost completely. She looked up as the wall collapsed on top of them and turned the world around her pitch-black.
Chapter Fifteen
It was difficult to immediately recall what had happened. The blackness faded but it was replaced by flashing red lights and the ringing in her ears was swamped by the blaring of at least three different alarms.
She wasn't sure what was going on around her and as she tried to move, every inch of her screamed in pain.
"Fuck," she whispered and sagged with a soft whimper.
"Are you all right?" Mini asked, his voice still as calm and composed as ever.
"I'm
