Others might have thought it odd but it wasn't the only odd thing about her and was probably not even what stood out the most.
As she approached, the convoy was brought to a halt due to orders from inside. Hammerhand's massive Excalibur hung from a harness that had been rigged especially to support its weight. Beside it were Tinker's and a few others who were currently inside the beast. Maybe the news that Windchime had brought for them was enough to make the leader call a meeting.
She moved within earshot of the mechs around the Beast and it appeared they were talking about the same topic.
"They're not pirates," one of the Knights insisted. Jessica13 thought she recognized Taylor’s voice, but not from the mech she'd come to recognize as his. "No pirate is that well equipped. They weren't handing out the electro-lances to simply anyone back then."
"And how the hell would you know?" one of the others asked.
"They weren't. That's why you don't see anyone but Hammerhand in an Excalibur. They saved the better mechs and weapons for the people they knew could use the damn things."
She looked around at the group, not entirely sure how they felt about the matter.
"What do you guys know?" she asked finally.
The group fell silent and turned to look at her.
"I thought you were one of those who brought the news back," Taylor said and moved to where she could now see his Sherlock mech. "Shouldn't you know more about this?"
"I heard one of the messages, sure, but I feel like I'm missing the bigger picture around here," Jessica13 replied and looked at the Knights. "Windchime seemed genuinely concerned when he heard the description and for the life of me, I can’t understand why."
"It’s hard to say for certain out there," one of the older Knights said. "But that kind of weaponry and those ornaments are particular to a couple of bunkers out to the east. They have a few Outside settlements too, but they mostly only have farming equipment. If they're attacked by the bunkers near them, it's never a good thing."
"Is there any way to tell for sure?" she asked.
"Not unless you want to head on over yourself, knock on the door, and hope they're willing to show you," Taylor said and laughed.
"You're an asshole," she told him bluntly, shook her head, and moved toward the Beast.
"With that said, I would say a bird of prey on the helm would indicate that it's from the Eyrie bunker out east," one of the other pilots pointed out. "If the transmission came from one of the towns in that area—Facor or Bennings, maybe—that would give you a good idea of where it was coming from and who is attacking them."
Jessica13 shrugged. She didn't know much about the location but she would take their word for it.
One didn't need to climb out of their mech to enter and she didn’t intend to for the moment. If she had to be in there for a while, she would find an empty harness inside.
The ones at the rear were usually free since they were too small for the combat mechs. It was also where they were likely to swing around more if they didn't lock them down properly. Most of the other knights didn't bother to do that with theirs since they didn't like to stay out of them for long and certainly not when they were moving.
Inside the Beast, slits on the top let some light in but still kept the elements out. She wasn't sure how an opening wouldn't let at least a little rain in, and even after Tinker had explained it, she still hadn't understood it.
It wasn’t anything she needed to worry about, so she simply trusted what the man said and the work he’d put into it.
Pieces and parts that had been collected by Tinker over the years were piled to the one side. Many of them weren’t necessarily useful at the present moment, but as with the new legs the Minato had been fitted with, he had a good instinct for what would be useful in the future.
Of course, with the number of parts they had, all of them were bound to be useful eventually.
On the other side, a few sections had been set up as a basic living area. They wouldn’t live in their mechs constantly and a location to make food, collect water, and simply stretch their legs was available to the knights. There were even a couple of bunks that allowed them to sleep somewhere other than inside their mechs.
It was fairly popular to the point where Tinker had needed to set up a schedule to decide which of the Knights would be able to make use of the bunks at any time. Some had wondered why he hadn't simply set up more bunks, but it was a matter of space. While the Beast was clearly the largest moving object in the area, it was still limited to what could be carried by the engine he had built from scrap.
For the moment, though, they used the small social area near where the food was prepared. Hammerhand and Tinker were talking, and a couple of the other Knights surrounded them, wanting to hear the discussion.
"I don't see how we have a choice," Hammerhand said and leaned back in one of the seats. "We are the Knights Mechanica. This is what we do. When people ask for help, we answer, and that is how we are known. If we become known as those who do not answer a call for help, who can they trust? Who do they call when they are in need?"
"I understand that," Tinker said, pushed from his seat, and paced for a few steps before he sat again.
Jessica13 had the feeling he had done this since the beginning of the conversation to express the kind of frustration he wanted known without actually saying it.
