The First Battle of Titan's Gate | Events of the Ages

 Outside of the Northern Kingdoms, there were many who took the construction of Titan's Gate as a statement of challenge.
 "This land is ours now. Deny our claim if you dare."
 The majority let this challenge lie without response. Alone it was a mighty fortification, though not unsurpassable, but the knight orders who would defend it were an unknown risk. As the War of the Dragon had reached its end, stories about these remarkable warriors had spread across the continent. Tales grown from the seeds of truth had become flowers of heroic myth and mighty deeds that described events beyond mortal capabilities yet had once stemmed from fact. So it was that only those who dismissed these works as entirely fictitious would be among the first to try.

 Events were set in motion when the Frostheart Duke looked upon the unsophisticated, hand-crafted technologies of the Kingdoms and believed he saw barbarism - a primitive civilization which could be paved over by his vision for the future: a rail line that would extend across the entire northern continental region and bring an unprecedented flood of new resources into his domain. To this end, the Desolators, vassal enforcers of the duke, were sent to clear the way ahead of his forge engine's arrival.
The clash began when the vanguard of the Desolators was intercepted by a patrol from the Crimson Warders order. Part of the second generation of knights, this order was tasked with the defence of Titan's Gate at their inception, and served as its primary garrison. Stationed at the border, they had already driven off beasts, bandits and raiders but this would be their first test against an organised force. For the Desolators, this was a challenge like any other they had faced. The duke's ambitions had seen many a city razed to the ground before, and while these walls were likely harder than most, it would certainly not be the largest settlement to fall at their hands. Their frontmost forces were fast-moving persecutors and eliminators, carried ahead of the main force by their hoverpacks, and intent on pinning the defenders within their walls, so that the demolition would fell both in one act. However, their eagerness had left them unprepared for the knights' diligence, and if the scouts were not dealt with swiftly then they would have chance to raise the alarm.

 Unbeknownst to the enforcers, who set about moving into position to pin the Crimson Warders with volleys of suppressive fire, only one amongst the patrol was a fully fledged knight while the remainder were merely aspirants from the ranks of the Calam guards. As such, it fell to Knight Examplar Alane to lead the response. Judging the situation swiftly, she ordered the lance guards under her command to split from the detachment and head for Titan's Gate at full speed, while she and the others would hold here to assist their escape. Daunted by the reality of the situation, there was a moment of hesitation among the guards, but the incoming flashes of energy weapons snapped them into action. As the lance guards sprinted off for help, the shield guards left behind moved into cover behind rocky outcroppings while Alane stood valiantly in place, at the head of the improvised formation, to bar their opponents from moving past. Extending the shield generators within her weighty aegium warplate to their maximum, she and her fellow defenders were engulfed by a nimbus of golden light as the deflector field surrounded them. What followed was a feat of courage and resilience - even with this additional protection, the firepower brought to bear against them was formidable. High-power laser beams seared through the stone barricades and into the light armour worn by the shield guards; energy blasts punched those they hit from their feet and broke open the obstructing terrain even when they missed. On the other hand, the guards struggled to return any damage at all, as although they took every opportunity to return fire, with rapid bursts from their casters, at this distance the shots scattered wildly off target even without the effect of their targets' shields.
 While the majority of the Desolators focused on picking off the entrenched guards, the heavy weapons specialists of the eliminators concentrated on the knight who blocked their path. Even though they had spotted the lance guards as they moved away, the enforcers were loathe to draw any nearer and risk a close-quarters fight, which meant Alane had to fall before they could hunt them down. One by one, the layers of armour were beaten, made molten and torn by explosive force as the technological power of the Iron Empires met the exquisite craftsmanship of the Northern Kingdoms in full strength. The Knight-Exemplar's own test of endurance could not have lasted more than minutes at most, but with the increasing pressure on both sides it felt like an age. Even as the plating withered away, the will of its bearer held firm and as the deluge ceased the knight still stood, in spite of the visible damage that had reached all the way to the flesh.

 Yet then came the sound that heralded the end of this proud resistance: the knights were not the only reinforcements being counted on, and the enforcer teams that were the mainstay of the offensive force had arrived. Stoic, with their commander's example to lead them, the shield guards bravely remained in place to slow their foes for one moment more, but it was clear that their dimished ranks had no chance left. Suddenly, just as the newly replenished enforcers took aim, something fell from the sky. Landing at the heart of the enforcers' ranks, with the retros of their jet pinions burning like wings of flame, the knights of Titan's Gate had arrived. This was not flight, but the result of a massive, turret-mounted slingshot that had launched the knights directly from their base into a violent descent towards the combat. With blades and handcasters, the knight dragoons immediately engaged in brutal close combat like a surging tide, carried onwards by the momentum of their impact. The enforcers' deflectors were calibrated for long ranged engagements and, caught off-balance by this turn of events, the number defeated climbed with every second that it took for them to recover. At the rear of the Desolators detachment, the commander and their advisors rapidly sought to organise a response, and this answer too came from above. With frightening accuracy, a thunderous barrage struck the advancing knights, barely beyond the enforcers' own re-established lines. Just as the reinforcements on-foot had made themselves known shortly before, the siege batteries brought to raze the walls had drawn into range of this engagement on the outskirts. Now, their strikes were being directed at the incoming knights with pinpoint accuracy by the amassed targeting data of the enforcers on the field, and the situation became a rapidly depleting stalemate for both sides. With the destruction being wrought by the distant wall-breakers and the ruthless skill of the dragoons as they continued to close the gap and keep their opponents tied down by proximity, it seemed as though this battle would only be won by the very last fighter standing. But as the last of the thunder echoed though the area, it became clear that the tide had changed once more - the siege weapons had fallen silent.

 Forced to retreat from the renewed pressure of the knights, the Desolators soon found their answer as a bulwark of armour blocked their escape. These were the plate-armoured paladins of the Crimson Warders, led personally by none other than their lord - a growing legend within the second generation who carried the favour of the Grand Regent himself. Demonstrating a surprising degree of the familiarity with the tactics used by the enforcers, the commander of the Crimson Warders and their elite guard had burrowed under the battle in a citadrell transport, only to emerge in the midst of the enemy artillery and swiftly destroy it with their mighty armaments. Wielding great swords and hammers, too heavy to be carried by a lone individual yet held in a single, powered gauntlet, and with salvocasters armed and ready in the offhand, they now set their sights upon the withdrawing enemy infantry. Those that tried to flee outside their reach were shredded by a torrential hail of metal, and the enforcers that tried to mount one last attack from their held positions were left severed and broken in the ensuing melee. The attackers that had dared to challenge the knights had been crushed, and their duke's vision lay shattered into as many pieces with them.