Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 09

Sir Ramsey began a countdown in a corner of his helmet's viewscreen, letting him track the estimated arrival of the enemy as he went about preparing the courtyard for another battle. He pushed wrecked mecha and other vehicles into the breech of the outer wall, prepared traps using loose ordinance, and set up killzones where the enemy's numbers wouldn't benefit them. Once ready, with some minutes to spare, Ramsey got to the compound's media center and put himself on the comms.

He first opened a channel to directly connect to Solar Guard Headquarters on Earth.

"Priority Transmission to Palatine Hill from Garmil's Gate. Authorization: Sir Ramsey Hennipen, Seat of Roland."

The screen read back "Access Granted".

"Inform Court of Stars. Insurrection in progress. Lord Fang and Mining Master Iser in league with Red Eyes pirates. Iser slain. Lord Fang's location unknown. Gatewatch status unknown. Situation is in hand. Recommend Lord Fang's liege intervene."

The screen read back: "Cast in the name of God. Ye Not Guilty."

"Acknowledged. Sir Ramsey, over and out."

Then Sir Ramsey got on the channel used by the rebelling workers.

"This is Sir Ramsey Hennepin, Paladin of the Solar Guard. I hold the High Justice. Those that surrender shall receive mercy. Those that resist shall die condemned of heresy and treason."

Ramsey saw Dashing Jack's face appear before him. "If, Paladin. If you can enforce it. You are still just one man."

"I an not just one man, villain. I am never just one man. Observe--I know you are--and you shall see this first hand before you go to Hell."

"Indeed. Entertain me, Papal Puppet. Dance! Dance for my amusement."

The sounds of artillery fire blowing apart the improvised barricade prompted Ramsey to cut the comms. The timer ran out; and the enemy arrived right on time. As Ramsey ran to his first position, he saw in another window on his viewscreen a perspective from one of the working security cameras of rebel mecha and infantry rushing into the courtyard. He saw them stop after the first bomb exploded and took out the leading infantry platoon as well as the armed worker mecha they escorted.

By the time he got into position, the enemy cleared away their wrecked unit and swept clear what remained of the infantry. He put up a shoulder-fired missile launcher, took aim, and launched at the foremost unit. He didn't wait to see if he hit; he immediately tossed the launcher and ran back under cover. The return fire tore apart his former position while the impact on the leading unit stymied any attempt to track him long enough to thwart it.

"I can't move!" the unit's pilot said, confirmng Ramsey's hope of a mobility kill. As he got into his second position, where another launcher awaited him, he heard the order from the rebel commander: "Reduce the upper floors and force him to the ground." Ramsey smiled; someone there wasn't a complete moron. He fired his second missile, again running back under cover, and this time switching down to the ground floor. The enemy mecha fired upon the compound's buildings, leveling their upper floors, before sending infantry into the now-reduced remains aiming to force Ramsey into the open.

But this meant going into close quarters, where Ramsey again held the advantage, and he ambushed the first squad he found with beam sword and blaster. He erupted from a side room into a hallway, appearing in the middle of their single-file formation, cutting down one man while shooting a second in the chest with a double-tap technique. Caught unawares, they attempted to respond.

"You're not fast enough!" he declared as he cut and shot them down in their confusion.

Soon he flushed them out of the buildings and back into the courtyard, quivering in fear. Their leader emerged from on of the armed workers, and he shot one of them to get their attention.

"One! Man!"

Ramsey strode into view, standing in the doorway of what was the compound's main building- formerly Master Iser's headquarters. He took aim at the rebel commander with his blaster.

"Paladin!" Ramsey said, and shot the commander dead with a clean hit to the man's forehead.

The infantry broke and ran, fleeing before the golden-armored knight, only to to stop before the sight of a giant-sized man-like robot.

"Go on!" its pilot said, "We've got this."

Sir Ramsey let the rabble flee. Instead, he took notice of the mecha now arriving. These were the House Fang units, repainted black with red accents and red eyes. His viewscreen identified them as basic Oni-class models, though they had to have undergone some modification by now.

"Come out, Paladin. Let's see you fight against us."

"Don't be so hasty." Ramsey said as he took in the full view of the enemy mecha--both the new arrivals and the armed workers remaining--before him, "I will not deny your request, or to hear your regrets for making it."