Oriflamme Protocols.

I, in the three second span of warning that I had, recalled what that meant. The Oriflamme Protocols were implemented when no mercy was to be given to an enemy, nor any surrender accepted. A holdover from the Great War that was never taken off of the books, but never actually used since said Great War. An 'absolute last resort' option that no one, not even the most brutal and bloodthirsty of commanders wanted to order.

All of which is frankly useless information in the here and now, because that behemoth is firing at us!!

I scooped up Cinder into my arms and ran, just as the various soldiers around us began to take out their sidearms and desperately attack the metal goliath. The fruitless plink plink plink of the bullets against the monster filled the air, joining the cacophony of screaming and claxons the boom-boom-boom of the Paladin's own weaponry and the thud-thud-thud as it walked forward.

Don't think about the squelching sound. Don't think about the squelching sound. For the love of the Brothers, Don't think about the squelching sound.

We passed the lines of soldiers, and reached the largest group beyond them. The students, oh Brothers, there were students here, were desperately dragging the wounded to safety, along with bringing ammunition to those soldiers that were firing at the Paladin.

"Get them inside, now!" I all but roared at them. "And for fuck sake, get some reinforcements already!"

I loathed raising my voice, but I think I can get a pass on this one occasion. It gets them to safety, and lets the outside world actually have a clue as to what is happening right now. Because as it stands? We don't stand a damn chance against the Paladin..

"Schwartz!" I heard Glover shout. "Get your ass moving and fire at that thing!"

I fought back a sigh. What fucking good is one more handgun gonna do?!!

"Nonette!" One of the students, thankfully looking unharmed, turned to look at me. Nonette was one of the students that now regularly 'checked in' with them during their breaks. Admittedly, this was due to her being pretty poor at history, but she was decent company nonetheless. "Take Cinder."

"..Da-...C-Casper?" Cinder whimpered as she left my arms. Nonette let out a soft wince as she took all of Cinder's weight, and began to step away.

Crap crap crap! Have I ever raised my voice like that around her? "I-It's okay, Cinder. Just...trust me. You'll always be safe with me." Forgive me for lying, Little Cinder. "Everything will be fine. Just, go with Nonette. Can you do that for me?"

I turned away before she could answer, not wanting to see the heartbroken look in her eyes. I unholstered my sidearm, and stode forth to try to fight the metal monster. Aside from training, I had never needed to fire my gun. I was a little proud of that, truth be told. True, as an Archivist I rarely needed to be in a situation that called for offensive measures, but I've been in Remnant for four years now. Not needing to shoot anything, even Grimm, for four years isn't a bad run, all things considered.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Oh well. Needs must.

With Cinder and the students behind me, I brought my handgun up, aiming at the cockpit of the Paladin, and opened fire. Two soldiers, Blues judging by their uniform, stepped in at either side of me and joined the dozens of soldiers firing fruitlessly at Watts' creation.

The hard light shields came online at last, acting as a containment field around the parade ground, and to provide at least some measure of protection for what remained of the crowd, the ones yet to evacuate. But just as soon as they were activated, they sputtered out, letting the Paladin continue in its ceaseless carnage.

It fired again, and the soldier on my right took a direct hit. He was sent careening backwards with a sickeningly damp splatter.

I didn't even know his name.

I didn't pause to mourn him. I couldn't. I couldn't afford to right now. I couldn't even glance back to see if those behind me were alright. I just kept firing at the cockpit. It was, logically at least, the weak point. True, it was probably made of the glass that Watts himself had had a hand in creating, and thus stupidly difficult to even crack, but right now, it's the best shot we have.

Then my gun stopped with a click-click-click….just as the Paladin turned its attention to me.

No more ammo. No reload. No chance of escape. I thrust my hands forward, in what was sure to be a futile attempt at defense. The Paladin fired again, and I closed my eyes in preparation for my second death...

And then….

...I opened my eyes, and blinked in bewilderment at the scene before my eyes. A wall of shimmering gray light, no more than two metres wide by two metres wide, had appeared in front of me.

More precisely, it had appeared in front of my outstretched hands.

Don't tell me....now of all times..?

The Paladin fired again, and I grit my teeth as my new shield began to crack under the bombardment. But just as I felt the shield begin to break, the cockpit suddenly tore itself away from the Paladin, rocketing swiftly into the skies and away from sight and sensors and on and on and on..until it exploded into a burst of fire and smoke.

Deep down, I knew that Watts was still alive. Deep down, I knew that he was likely on his way to Salem or would soon be on his way to her. Deep down, I knew that all this was a trick. But at that moment, I flinched. A death like that would not have been pleasant. The Paladin, now without its controls, stumbled to a halt and was at last silent. Leaving nothing but screams and moans and cries of the injured and dying, and the silence of the dead.

In all, the Paladin Incident had lasted barely five minutes.