AN:
@HeroCooky, here is that big Knight fight omake I mentioned a couple of months ago. It's about a Paladin Pilot during the fighting against Starlight Knights when they did their major offensive. Knight Captain Kryska who pilots the Paladin, Providence, of the Steel Talons Chapter. The Steel Talons have a favorable relationship with the Vanar due to several former Vanar being members and thus are more trusted with more advanced technological clan secrets than other Order by virtue of them being very familiar with Forge clan protocols and being former members. They may have officially renounce their family name to be a Knight, but nepotism is very beneficial for both parties. The Steel Talons have access to more advanced technology for their knights or even a discount on Crusader frames, and the Vanar get a place to dumb sons and daughters that aren't good at forging but want to be Knights.
Honor and Glory Pt.1
Piloting a Knight is all about concentration.
"Enemy Contacts confirmed, they are moving in fast."
To combine instinct and reflexes with skill and training.
"Maintain formation." "They are right on us! Attack!"
To turn stilted flailing into deadly flowing movement.
"Alpha-3 to support, what is your status?" "Charlie 3 is down-"
Being a skilled fighter is not enough to be a Knight.
"Close Ranks-" "They are chewing us up!"
The mental strength to be calm under pressure and maintain situational awareness is equally as important in battle.
"All units keep up the fire." "Delta stay in formation!"
Prioritizing what is important and what is a distraction can be the difference between life and death.
"This Charlie-2 we NEED Support!"
Thus whilst the battle took a turn for the worst, your mind stays focused on the battle in front of you.
"I'm not gonna make it! I'm Not Gonna Make It! Argh-"
"EVA, ignore all transmissions unless it is a direct transmission." "Affirmative, setting Providence to "Busy"."
With the unnecessary noise muted, you continue to focus on your opponents. Starlight Knights with spear and shield surround you. You managed to keep them at bay with your Greatsword with wide swings that flow together into a deadly dance that prevents their superior numbers from overwhelming you.
The Starlight Knights seems to have run out of patience and decided to charge in all at once. With the Crusader frame, which was what a majority of the Empire Knights have been using, it is a sound attack strategy. With the Paladin, more options becomes available for the pilot to use.
I quickly counter charge the Knight in front of me, the increased speed and power of the Paladin results in you quickly reaching him before his compatriots have a chance to respond, thus for a few seconds it is a 1 on 1 fight. A few seconds is all that is needed.
The Starlight Knight quickly thrusts his spear to create distance, however with the Paladin's head's up display and precise controls, I raised my left hand and caught the incoming spear by its shaft. Something considered impossible to do with previous models as they lack the precision and speed of the Paladin. With the spear caught, I pull the spear in closer and up whilst spinning to the Starlight's right and deliver a pommel strike with my Greatsword directly into it's back, the impact ringed the Knight frame the pilot and most likely deafened the pilot.
I release my hold on his spear to grip my sword with both hands, raised my Greatsword to the sky, and deliver a devastating strike directly at the Knight's shoulder joint. The heavy blade smashes through the thin plating of the joint and embeds itself into the shoulder. With a twist of my arm, I use the sword as a lever to snap off the Knight's arm from its body, before jamming the tip of my sword directly into the pilot's cabin through the hole in its shoulder. A quick twist of the Greatsword's handle, like twisting a wet towel, activates the sword's electric discharge, sending a surge of high voltage electricity directly into the cockpit and frying everything inside it.
I spot 2 of the Knights closing in, too close to get my sword out before they are on top of me, thus I did not bother to retrieve my sword and decided to go on the offense in hand to hand combat. My charge surprised the knights as they hesitated, that hesitation allowed me to close into melee range. The 2nd Knight thrusts his spear which I caught with my left hand and pushed it up before delivering a palm thrust with my right to his gut. The blow stunned the pilot, allowing me to place my arm between his elbow and shoulder and push him to the ground with a sweep of my right leg to further unbalance him. I quickly yank his spear out of his grip and then stab the point directly at the Knight's chest. The spear's tri-edged design allowed it to keep it's point without blunting even when going into the Knight plating.
Once I delivered the killing blow, I quickly turn to my 3rd opponent who decided to attack whilst my back was turned. I quickly caught the spear betweem the Paladin's left armpit and with a spin deliver an elbow strike to the Starlight Knight's chest. I quickly release the spear, place my right hand on his leg and my left hand on his armpit, and lift the Knight using the increase strength of the Paladin's electric servos to my advantage. The Paladin is able to lift the Knight up to the Paladin's waist before slamming him to the ground. With pilot stunned from the fall, I jump on top of the Knight and stomp on its chest with both of my Paladin's legs, the full weight of the Paladin crushing the Starlight's chest and the pilot inside.
The 4 other Knights are now much more cautious as they just saw an unarmed Knight kill 2 fully armed Knights in hand-to-hand combat. They present a united front and are slowly advancing in a shield wall. I calmly retrieved my Greatsword and have it resting on top of my shoulder. I raise my left hand and curl my fingers in a "come here" gesture.
One of the Knights charged, and the others quickly follow him. The Knight's spear thrust was smoothly sidestepped, I quickly grab hold of the spear with my left hand and then pull him forward. The Paladin's strength causes the Starlight knight to overextend and with a sweep of the leg, causes him to lose his balance and fall face first. A fall like that is very serious in Knight combat as the pilot could get bounced around inside even if the cockpit is properly reinforced with shock absorbers, the pilot still has its own inertia to deal with and could result in the pilot banging his head on the controls. Falling face first is still an incredibly painful especially from inside a Knight frame.
With him momentarily stunned, I focus on the other 3 Knights remaining. I activate one of Providence's hidden weapon, a Bola thrower, hidden in it's left forearm. With a left hook throw, the Knight's forearm pops open an a second skeletal hinged arm throws a steel bola that entangles the legs of the closest Knight. With its legs bound by steel cables it quickly lost balance and falls to the ground, it was able to break its fall by extending its shield arm thus, I don't think it will take long for it to be free.
With half of the Knights temporarily out of action a 2 v 1 fight is much more manageable. The 3rd Knight thrusts a spear, a sidestep to the right into a two-handed swing from the shoulder slams into his shield. I quickly close the distance and bring my cross guard up to smash into the Knight's face. With the Knight momentarily stunned, I grabbed his spear before giving a front heel kick to his abdomen. The blow pushes the knight back and away but the spear is still in my hand.
The 4th Knight charges while I am still recovering from the kick. I let go of my captured spear and Greatsword and have my Knight do a backwards roll. The gyroscopic cockpit makes rolling in a Knight disorientating but this maneuver allowed my Paladin to dodge a potentially deadly attack. With the roll complete and the Paladin's feet firmly on solid ground I charged at the 4th Knight. He retaliates with another thrust followed by a shield bash. Another spear grab with my right arm holds it in place while my left arm smashes the Knight's elbow. The blow overextended the joint and breaks it, with the spear arm broken I release my hold on it and duck under the bash. My hands grabbed hold of his legs and pulled them right from under him, toppling him over. A quick stomp on the chest caved it in.
The 2nd Knight manages to free himself from the Bola and the 3rd Knight has recovered from the heel kick and has retrieved his spear. Thankfully the 1st Knight seemed to still be down so I return my focus to the two that are still standing. I take the spear from my most recent kill and enter a guard stance. I wasn't as proficient with a spear as I was with a great sword but it will have to do.
Luckily I didn't need to fight as a Bolt suddenly pierces one of the knights in the chest and killing its pilot. The last remaining knight looked at the direction where the arrow came from which gave me the opening I need to activate the Paladin's Skyfire rocket pack and rocket charged directly at the knight. I swiftly close the distance and was inside its guard before he has a chance to fight back. I thrust my captured spear into his chest and the spear was able to penetrate through to the other side before the my Paladin slammed into it and toppling the both of us over. After sliding to a stop, I calmly raise the Paladin back to its feet and go to retrieve my Greatsword, Steel Breaker, before making sure all of the downed Knight's are truly dead.
"Knight Captain, I see you are unharmed."
Your squire approached you in his Crusader Knight named Ambriel, equipped with Crossbow and Shield with an Arming Sword as a sidearm in case an enemy engages him in melee combat. "Ambriel, what is the situation?" He is a capable squire, a bit timid but his heart is in the right place. You holster your sword and made a trek back to the base with your squire following right behind you.
"We managed to defeat the all of the assaulting Knights and are currently clearing the base of enemy infantry. However the walls have sustained heavy damage and will most likely not protect us from another assault. There have been reports from the other FOBs that they are under heavy attack as well. A general retreat order has been issued on all frequencies and everyone is currently in the process of evacuating."
"Good, what of Vindicator and Stalwart?" another Knight and Squire pair that are your assigned to your squad.
"Their Knights are moderately damaged in the fighting and is currently undergoing repairs so they themselves are currently helping with the evacuation."
"Can you still fight?"
"Always, ma'am."
"Excellent, there is still work to be done."
---------
AN: omg this took forever. Not even sure if I did a good job on the fight scenes and the ending was pretty lack luster cause I just wanted this over and done with.
I picture Knights to be incredibly skilled and have a lot of time to battle and practice with their machines. Thus I portrayed the fight to be much more technical with a lot of moves meant to end a fight quickly. The increased power Paladin and the skill of the Pilot, (All Paladin pilots are veterans but not all veterans are Paladin Pilots yet) overpower the Starlit knights whose Knight frames are not up to par than the ones produced by the Empire and Vanar clan.
While the Paladin is outnumbered, each Paladin has a varied load out that can be customized by its user. From a Bola Launcher in the arm that can be thrown in a second, to the Skyfire Jet Pack that can be used for long distance jumps or straight forward charges (like Reinhardt's charge from Overwatch), to a Stimulant module I mentioned in the post about the Paladin only available to Knight's that high ranking Knights that have very strong willpower as the Stimulants are extremely powerful and can keep a Paladin fighting constantly for hours, numb pain, increase reflexes and aggression, and stimulates the muscles so that more of them are used. Basically Starcraft's Stimpack on a Paladin which are only exclusive to high ranking Knight pilots with a whole lot of skill.
The drawback for this Stimulant module is that older Knights are in danger of getting a heart attack when activated, there is a chance the user loses control and goes on a Berserker rage, and after the stimulants run their course the muscles will get sore for the heavy exertion and the pilot would suffer a crash similar to what happens after drinking a bottle of expresso. That is why this module is only limited to those that can handle its drawbacks and with this module experienced Knights become gods of war which many Knight pilot's considered to be worth the risks.
Also the Squire and Knight dynamic is similar to how the Jedi train with Masters and Padawans. Not all Knight Orders do this but it seems like a good fit.If you have any questions, feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to explain my reasoning.