A Show of Might | Tales of the Knights - Pt. 1

 Sizzling laser beams streaked overhead as Gideon, Castellan of the Adamant Claws, took cover behind the battlements. As the light faded, he risked a glance between the crenellations to check on the besiegers. The settlements of the Frudeit region had fallen behind on their trade obligations to the kingdom, and by the time the diplomatic force had reached them, the region's governing nobility had raised a militia in opposition. The ambassadors had retreated to the safety of the outpost manned by their ten-man escort, of which Gideon was one, but were now surrounded on all sides with no apparent means of escape.
 From atop the tower, he could see a dozen positions, scattered across the plain of mud and rock, where the militants had entrenched themselves with rough metal barricades - cut from the scrap forests of Frudeit's wilderness no doubt. At the moment, they were only using blasters and laser rifles to keep the defenders pinned, but they would do little more than scorch the walls. However, across the flat ground he could see heavy weapons teams moving in, and zoomed the lenses in his helm to get a better look at the wheeled artillery they were dragging through the dirt. Those would be more troublesome, were it not for one detail that the enemy commander had clearly missed: there had never been a fort built here.

 Gideon ducked back down as another volley began and opened a large hatch on the floor to speak to the crew inside the internal chamber. Albest, a gruff, short-bearded man assigned as their engineer, worked with a number of valves and levers to carry out some operation that Gideon could not interpret. His fellow knights and the diplomats were already strapped into harnesses mounted diagonally upon the walls, in preparation for what would come next.
    "Their cannons are getting into position. Now is the time to act."
    "About time," Albest grunted. "I don't see why you are so cautious of these weakling oathbreakers."
    "It isn't caution, it's patience. It is our order's way to draw out the foe's fullest strength, that we may crush it in its entirety."
    "The full strength of this Citadrell is greater than theirs, I can assure you of that."
    "Good, then." Gideon said as he strapped himself in next to the rest of the squad. "Get us moving and we will end this insurrection."

 The engine started with a rumble, anchors driven invisibly into the earth below began to retract, and the Citadrell began to topple. A gout of rock shrapnel and mud erupted as it struck the ground, and there was a moment of quiet as the nearest soliders rose from their positions and tried to peer into the dust cloud. Then, a great shape pushed through the shroud and surged forth on grinding, armoured tracks revealed on its wall-turned-underbelly. Great, mechanical crossbows, which had previously been hidden behind armoured panels to maximise the machine's defences, swivelled into position on either side and launched a volley of projectiles that scattered and brought down a great many of the stunned soldiery.
 The artillery crews hurriedly tried to ready their guns as the their target rode forwards, but then it was too late and the metal behemoth was already upon them. A molten glow emanated from the crenallations that were now at the vehicle's front, as the magma drills charged up - then a searing flash as they let out a burst of molten energy, designed to bore through stone and steel alike, which scoured the cannons and their crew in their entirety. At this, the remaining resistance collapsed entirely, many dropping their useless weapons and fleeing at the sight of the strength brought against them.
    "Are we done then?" asked Albest, turning to Gideon as he stepped up from his seat, "They are looking pretty crushed to me."
    "Not quite yet. We still have the instigator to deal with." he replied, turning to signal one of the diplomats to attend them. "Direct us to the manor; I will see that he is properly dealt with."

 Faces peered out from windows as the war machine proceeded through the town, turned pale by a mixture of awe and fear. Their guide had offered a route towards the nobleman's estate around the outskirts of the town, but Gideon had wanted a spectacle - a statement of victory which would make the formidable power of the knights apparent to all. Fortunately, the road was not paved, as they were not intending to leave ruin behind, but a trail of churned earth would be no real issue. They paused as they reached the town centre so that the knights could disembark, and squad escorted the Citadrell for the remainder of the journey with banners raised and the regalia of the Adamant Claws proudly on display. Curiosity overcame wariness at the sight of the armoured warriors and faces became people as the squad continued on. By the time they left the town, quite a crowd had gathered behind them and Gideon was confident that this step had been a success, and now all that was left was the one whose actions were responsible their visit.
 They continued in the same formation for the remainder of the journey, but now with banners stowed and weapons drawn. Gideon surveyed the landscape with his volleycaster held ready. It was a heavy weapon of the same design as the Citadrell's defensive armaments, but equipped with sights suited for use with his helmet's adjustable lenses and a loader made for cases of bolts to be fed in by hand. It was as polished as the day it came out of the forges, but Gideon's had seen many a battle and had brought down opponents of all scales in his hands - humanoid, beast and machine alike, or in some cases a mixture that was more than one. It was this experience that had seen him made the commander of this mission, and it was also this experience that kept him from being overconfident. Although he could not see any of the forces from earlier - and he was sure that his order's teachings had proven true once again - there was clear evidence that something else had been this way. The road ahead was occassionally marked by gouges taken out of the earth, scratches upon the rockier parts of the terrain and at one point a small puddle of oily liquid had pooled in one of the indentations. An unknowing observer might presume that the tracks were left by a damaged vehicle, perhaps one similar to the knights' Citadrell but smaller in dimension, yet Gideon suspected otherwise and shared this with his squadmates who had also made similar observations.
 This was all but confirmed when they finally reached their destination. From a distance the manor house had looked to be in good condition, but the damage was evident up close. Great claw marks scarred the walls and the doors had been almost totally shredded and scattered across the entrance. Circumstances had changed, but their mission had not. At Gideon's signal, the squad moved to form up in a well-honed, defensive formation, then entered the beast's lair that had once been a nobleman's abode.