Week 2 entry: Mechs
In-game name: Caelifer
Characters:
Paladin
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Gigantes
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Gigas
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Location:
New Howlfang (some time before it was sacked)
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Story:
“Oh goddess, they’re here.”
The old man pressed himself up against the back wall, as far from the wooden door as he could manage. One of the benches lay on its side, tools scattered across the stone floor of the workshop. His face had paled noticeably over the last minute, when the alarms outside had sounded. This man was simply known to everyone as the Builder. He was the town’s architect, carpenter, and mason. He was also the Paladin’s creator.
The Paladin stood watching him for a minute before turning to the doorway, sword already drawn. His sensors were beginning to pick up movement in the hallway beyond- to get this far past the defenses meant that the intruders were formidable indeed.
The door burst open suddenly, splinters spraying across the floor. A white golem stepped into the room, a single eye glowing red in the middle of its face. A set of painted eyes adorned its armor; mere decorations to evoke fear. It had a stubby reptilian tail and carried a heavy steel club over its shoulder. Two others like it followed, their own weapons held ready.
Gigantes-class golems. Creations built to intimidate and destroy. Over the years the Builder had made many enemies. Rival builders were not unheard of, though their efforts had never gotten this far before. The eye of the first golem scanned the workshop until it settled on the Paladin.
Then the trio exploded into action.
The first golem charged forward, steel club held above its head with both hands. The Paladin settled into a combat stance, then he was across the room and upon the attackers in an instant. His sword sliced across the frontrunner’s exposed torso, sparks erupting from the blade as it carved a path through the thick armor. The upper half of the construct fell limp, and the Paladin twisted around and gave it a jarring kick, sending the body sailing across the room toward another of the intruders. The golem just managed to sidestep in time, and the disabled construct crunched against the far wall in a crumpled heap.
The two remaining white golems came at him now, steel clubs swinging together in a tandem attack. The Paladin ducked under the metal, skidding on his knees and coming up behind them. He raised his blade skyward, and a mechanism in his shoulder quietly clicked.
“Radiant light!”
Both constructs turned just as blinding yellow light erupted from the Paladin’s armor, courtesy of many cleverly hidden electric lights. The golems shielded their eyes, giving the Paladin an opening. He spun between them, slamming the pommel of his sword into the face one of the golems, causing it to stumble a few steps back. He swung his other arm back in a wide arc, catching the second golem across the neck with his forearm. As it fell, he raised his sword and drove it point-first through the golem’s face.
His sensors picked up a sudden movement over his shoulder. The Paladin leapt away and just managed to dodge the club that came crashing down onto the stone floor, sending up chips of stone. The golem which had taken the pommel to the face had recovered, and had just given away its advantage.
The Paladin barged his shoulder into the golem, sending it reeling backward. He held out an arm, palm facing toward the stumbling construct. There was a whirring sound, followed by another soft click as a hidden mechanism in his arm triggered.
“Holy arrow!”
The outstretched hand suddenly slid back to reveal a small cannon built into the Paladin’s arm. There was a bang and the smell of gunpowder as a rocket propelled itself into the golem’s face. The explosion that followed shook the room, causing loose dust to fall from the rafters. When the smoke cleared, the golem lay in scattered pieces on the ground.
The Paladin paused and surveyed the room. The first golem lay in a heap in the corner, motor functions disabled with the aimed slash. The second golem was sprawled on the ground with a sword-shaped hole through its head, where the components required for the unit to function were stored. The third golem was now in six different parts of the room.
Threat: neutralized.
The Paladin returned to the old man, who had buried his face in his lap. He looked up as the Paladin approached.
“Paladin,” the Builder said shakily as he looked around the workshop. “Wha… what happened?”
“Gigantes-class golems were sent to destroy us,” the Paladin explained, offering the old man a hand. “I have repaid them in kind.”
“But how could mere Gigantes make it so far into the base on their…” The Builder began as the alarms sounded again, and a voice over the early-warning system came on.
[Warning, class 5 entity approaching. Warning, class 5...]
The far wall exploded, sending chunks of rock into the room. A large hulking figure stepped through the gap into the workshop, the stone cracking under its feet as it strode. It was much like the previous golems, only this Gigantes was six times larger and carried a steel club the width of an Oak tree.
“Oh,” the Builder breathed, disbelief in his voice as he backed up against the wall again. “Oh dear.”
The beast let loose a mechanical roar as it swung its massive weapon straight for the old man.
“No!” the Paladin leapt to the Builder’s aid, sword held before him in a parrying position; although how he would parry such a massive force he could not comprehend. The heavy club smashed into his sword and the blade shattered, spraying bits of steel. The Paladin could only watch as the massive weapon engulfed his vision…
... and then the world went dark.
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Note: I hope that having non-themed characters in supporting roles would not be violating any rules. All featured characters in the story are now mechs, just to be safe. Originally, I had written for the Paladin to be facing demons during the destruction of New Howlfang instead, but this works just as well.
The term 'Golem' is also used loosely in this context to describe an automaton, not necessarily the Golem monster depicted in the game.