The golem responded in turn with a string of jargon that anyone aside from a dabbler in lost technology wouldn't understand. The reply was highly formulaic, completely by the book without any deviation. The way it spoke would've appeared stilted and rigid if you didn't know what you were hearing. The creators of this particular machine made these en masse, the number so immense they had to resort to straight numerical identification. Like a machine it proceeded to state its creators' intended purpose for itself, where it was assembled, and its current course of action. It exhibited a rudimentary form of memory in defining its past history into archived 'events'. All very important answers, but not quite enough for Shiloh. But with its exhibited thought process, hypothetically she could ask it anything and it would give a straight answer. At the moment the golem did not show signs of self-thought outside of its given orders implanted upon creation. In the same syntax used by the Dreadnought, the deity replied: "This Citizen requests the assistance of this Unit. This Citizen shares the same objective as this Unit, and wishes to aid said Unit in performing its Duty. Does this Unit accept or decline?"

If it didn't consider her offer of temporary cooperation, she'd have to prepare to move very soon. Maybe expecting a war golem to be capable of negotiation was a bit much. Soldiers and weapons built for war weren't exactly designed with 'compromise' or 'diplomacy' in their vocabulary. They typically had a one-track mind, making them crudely effective at achieving their superiors' goals. Her other duplicates were observing the golem's next actions, listening for signs of whether it would accept or reject the proposition. From what they could hear from her mouth, Galatea and Medea were getting ready to move in and neutralize what they saw as a threat. Diomedes was at ease, choosing to wait for a clear sign of retaliation before acting, a far different mindset from the other two. Galatea was a no-nonsense type person; she preferred efficiency and accuracy more than anything else. She only had enough patience to wait for her captain's signal, whether it was to charge or fall back. Medea believed it would be better to remove any potential wild cards from the situation. If this entity wasn't willing to cooperate, they should ensure it wouldn't become a threat to the other people in the valley. Neither of them trusted this rogue golem, wandering in the jungle with no creator or supervisor in sight. And their concerns were not unreasonable, having seen the shambling remnants wandering Railoch outside the safety of Via Fulminis.

The Golem continued counting down but stopped when Shiloh asked her question. The Automaton then just stared at her, with it's glowing red eyes, for a somewhat long-ish amount of time during which it didn't utter or emmit a single sentence nor noise. It's just stood there motionless, as if godess' question threw a wrench into it's "thought" process, seemingly being stumped by it. Thankfuly the deity didn't have to wait too long for the machine to gather itself together and formulate a response.
- Answer. While the offer of assistance is appreciated by this Unit, Citizens are not allowed to take part combat/policing actions. However, as this Unit deems the current situation additionally Detrimental to peace, order and lawful behaviour, this Unit is allowed raise an Militia by appointing an Militia Leader who will then choose appropriate number of Citizens as Militia Members. Militia Leader will be bestowed with limited and temporary commision to an Commanding Officer of this Unit, which entails the ability to issue orders and commands that do not conflict with Unit's Prime Directive. Does the Citizen wish to be appointed as an Militia Leader by this Unit for the time of "Vada Policing Campaign". Yes or No.

Then the Automaton ceased almost all activity and resumed it previous stance of just staring at Shiloh untill the deity would answer it.

The countdown stopped, but when it went silent for an uncomfortably long time, Shiloh was afraid she had 'broken' it. She was wondering if she should clear out of the way in case it had a major malfunction, but to her relief it then resumed working. The Dreadnought's response broken down stated it appreciated the offer but due to its very rigid programming, would not allow beings not considered a threat to itself to do its job. However it provided an alternative, saying that due to the current situation its internal workings allowed for it to mobilize an unofficial, temporary force acting under its orders to achieve its goals. It would also choose an individual to take charge of said temporary force, labeled 'Militia Leader'. When it asked if she wanted to be granted the title, Shiloh had her answer ready. "Yes. This Citizen wishes to be appointed as a Militia Leader by this Unit for the 'Vada Policing Campaign'." As long as this ensured it would become an ally instead of an enemy, she had no issue with 'taking orders' from a golem. They could use the extra firepower and shift the burden of defense onto this machine. 

"It seems negotiations are a success." Diomedes said, hearing Shiloh's words. "We should be able to move in to see the latest addition to our group." He then nodded to his fellow automatons and Trafalgor's people. Medea still wasn't completely sold on accepting this unknown machine so easily, but said nothing. Galatea was of the same mind, but this was no time to complain. She sheathed her weapon, and looked to see Shiloh's next move. Everyone was informed of what was going on at the moment, so they knew what to expect. Diomedes made sure to explain that the deity would give them a detailed description of the incoming golem once the title transfer of 'Militia Leader' was finalized. From the way Shiloh's automatons reacted, the organic members of the group could notice that they were treating the war golem differently from themselves. Once they saw the Dreadnought, they would soon understand why.

Trafalgor gave a half-amused scoff at Shiloh's explanation of the disorienting effect the insect's buzzing was causing in himself and the rest of his party. "I know of selective filtering from my time with the hunters, but this is the first time it's ever effected my cognitive functions to this extent." He rolled one shoulder slightly. "It makes sense, though. The more noise, the more the brain tries to filter. I'll have to document it when we get back." 

After checking in with Kuro and coming upon the tracks on the trail, he and Tei gave their reports to the group, allowing Shiloh to utilize the information to make the best decision. Her thoughts matched up with his own on the matter of the golem, making him feel somewhat vindicated about his gut feeling, and he gave a soft chuckle at the goddess' attempt to lighten the mood a bit. He focused galvanic magic through his staff, causing it to arc electricity up and down it's length and reaching out to kill a few more insects that had gotten too close. "I have both. An Iron Wood staff and powerful, long-range electric spells." He nodded at her instructions, whistled and relayed orders with his hand signals once his party had turned their attention to him. Once he had given his orders, the group collapsed behind him and fanned out with Trafalgor and Tor at the center.

"My hunters will secure an escape route back into the treeline in case we need to retreat while Tor and I provide long-range support from the edge of visual range. We'll follow up with more lightning if you attack, but hold position otherwise. Give a low sign," he demonstrated a hand signal with his free hand with his middle three fingers pointed straight towards the ground, giving it a single, sharp back-and-forth movement, "if you want us to fall back because it's too dangerous."

As soon as Shiloh, her clones (which surprised the entire Gulu contingent momentarily), and finally her trio of sentient automatons took off, Trafalgor dashed forward as quickly as was safe for the footing and surroundings. Tor struggled a bit to maintain his pace, but his hunters kept up with ease. As they came upon the edge of the trees came into, Mikala and Haati halted and prepared to cover the group still moving forward while Kala and Tei took a low crouch at the very edge, bows pointed outward to cover Trafalgor and Tor as they continued out beyond any sort of protective cover or concealment. As soon as the hulking mass of the automaton came into view, Trafalgor froze in his tracks and backpedaled a few feet, pulling Tor with him and receiving a small shock for his trouble. Still, it didn't seem like it had noticed them, so he counted that as a plus as he crouched low and kept the tip of his staff aimed in the direction of the golem.

He could hear that Shiloh and the automaton were communicating, but only a few words could be understood by him from the distance they were at. He couldn't tell if things were going well or not at all… So he just trusted in Shiloh and paid very close attention to Shiloh's hands for the signal to retreat or an attack. If a fight broke out, he intended to send his strongest attack into the metallic giant with as little notice as possible. He'd much prefer any threats to their mission were neutralized rather than at their back as they continued further inward. By the same token, if it could be helpful to their cause, he would rather have it as an ally than an enemy.

He noticed the stances of Diomedes and Galatea shift from the edge of his vision, but it wasn't until he saw Shiloh's posture relax slightly that he released a breathe he didn't realize he had been holding. He stood from his crouch, Tor mirroring him still, and made his way towards Diomedes, who happened to be the closest of Shiloh's team to them. "I'm going to assume that we've made a tentative ally?" He glanced over at Medea, who seemed to not be quiet as relaxed about said turn of events as the other two were and gave a quiet 'hmmm' as his eyes narrowed. When the myrmidon informed him that Shiloh would explain more once she returned, he gave a firm nod and let out a three-tone whistle over his shoulder to call his hunters forward. "Understood, Diomedes. I think…" he trailed off as he glanced towards where the golem stood, "that I shall have my group limit their interactions with it. I'm getting mixed feelings towards that thing from you three and my gut is telling me to remain on-guard." 

He turned his attention back to Diomedes with a serious expression. "I learned long ago to ignore my gut feelings at my own peril." As the rest of the group finally formed up behind him, Trafalgor waited patiently for Shiloh to finish interacting with the golem as he watched from a distance.