"What are you referring to?" Mini asked and still moved his free arm around blindly.
"Oh, right, sorry," she replied and scrambled to the other side of the mech to help get the camera feeds back online while she attempted to also keep an eye on what was happening on the battlefield. The Excalibur had settled into something of a rhythm, one the pirates hadn't been able to circle effectively for a flank attack. Now, however, they pressed in and seemed to have something planned. The way they positioned themselves suggested they were getting ready to try something.
Pirate mechs had somehow appeared to supplement the numbers and almost three dozen were now gathered there, she realized. Again, she could only assume that they had made their way to the battlefield under the cover provided by the derelict buildings. From what she could judge with her limited experience, they seemed geared to make a push and would probably time it for the moment when the shield was dropped and before the hammer completed its swing.
The Knights were communicating, however. That much was obvious as the Raptor settled into its firing position and waited for its opportunity to strike. She had no idea what they planned but the unfolding drama was engaging enough to keep her riveted lest she miss any of the action.
Hammerhand coordinated the attack, that much was clear, and Jessica13 couldn't help but want to be in on that conversation.
The signal was given, apparently, as the flaps that covered the rocket launchers were yanked up and the Raptor pivoted to face where the fighting was at its hottest. As she had expected, the pirates waited for the opening between the shield deactivating and the hammer blow and the anticipated moment came in a few seconds. Ten of the enemy Lancers activated what looked like rockets on their backs to thrust them forward.
The rockets fired from the Raptor and pale white smoke trailed behind them, but they hadn’t targeted the enemy directly. Instead, they arced upward into the shell of a building above them. The explosives detonated and destroyed the supports, and a large section of the building broke free and plunged earthward.
The shield dropped and Hammerhand was open to the Lancers that immediately attacked. Only those who brought up the rear looked up in time to see the chunk of masonry that plummeted toward them.
One darted through safely but fell quickly when the Sherlock fired a single precise round. Three more were caught under the falling rubble although they raised their hands and stumbled frantically in an effort to avoid the inevitable.
Those that remained, perhaps eight or nine, were able to deactivate their rockets and come to a halt before the building collapsed on them.
Their heads jerked as they looked around them and it was evident that panic had begun to gain the upper hand once more as they tried to pull back again. In their haste and confusion, they milled frantically and tried to avoid one another but remained closely bunched as a perfect target. The rocket behind the hammer lit up while some were quickly eliminated by the Sherlock's pinpoint shots.
More rockets were fired into the pirate group by the Knight’s lancers to drive them back farther while their ranks were decimated by the ongoing assault. The Excalibur no longer actively fought but Hammerhand gestured for them to maintain the barrage. The idea seemed to be to continue the relentless attack until there were none left to retreat.
This was a battle waged by a team that had fought together for a long time, and while Jessica13 had seen some spoken coordination, they appeared to already know what Hammerhand would order. It was as if they were prepared in advance to initiate whatever tactic or maneuver he had in mind before he even called it.
For her, it was breathtaking, the kind of thing she had always wanted to see in her team in Sanctuary although she was unaware of what her dissatisfaction had really meant until this moment.
Hammerhand deactivated his hammer and placed it on the rubble in front of him. The servos whined and the vents opened to release steam into the air. She wondered if that was a cooling mechanism for the mech. Something that big had to generate considerable heat.
As the steam hissed out, it almost made it look like the mech had huge, fluffy white wings.
"And so, the chaff was broken from the wheat," Hammerhand intoned through the powerful external speakers on the Excalibur. "Lifted, crushed, and removed by the fist of God."
She had no idea what he made reference to, but it was impossible not to feel awe when she heard it. Maybe it was an effect of the speakers or merely because what he said made no sense, but she simply wasn't able to understand it. It reminded her of most of what she had been told about the Great Prophet Sagan.
Jessica13 then realized that another mech now moved toward her. She hadn't seen anything quite like it before. A few parts of a Watson protruded from what had originally been a General Robotics Mark II chassis and it even had an older version of the grappler she had on her Minato.
It was hard to not like the way the mech walked, though. The smooth motions showed that while it had been put together with various pieces, it had been done with the kind of thought and presence of mind to make sure the modifications improved the mech.
There was no green paint and no banners on the pauldrons, unlike the others, but it didn't look like a pirate mech.
Sure enough, as it approached, the headpiece on the cockpit—which made the mech look like it had a small head—popped up and an actual head emerged from the top.
She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but a thick bushy beard was not what she'd had in mind. Most people who spent time
