Vyaz leapt into the air, as the War Golem's fist shattered the street where he had been standing. A shockwave enveloped him, blasting out a cloud of dust as it shook the walls of the warehouses flanking the avenue. The Gun Knight wasted no time, bearing down on the Golem with his minigun as he rose in the air. He hit the apex of his leap, and the barrels spun into action, raining hell down on the top of the Golem's head. The Golem responded quickly, lifting its other arm to block the shots.

Vyaz landed on the roof of the building, staggering back a bit from the uneven surface of the roof, and the kick of his weapon. The Golem, crouched as it was, lifted itself to draw level with the Gun Knight, staring him down with its empty metal eyes. The rock below the eyes split open, and a wide maw opened in its squat rectangular head. It let loose a horrendous screech at the Gun Knight, and dragged its hand up from the street, tearing apart the cobbles with its rebar claws in a mad swipe at the Orc.

Vyaz rolled to the side as the hand cleaved through the brick and wood of the building. A spray of splinters and rocks flew into the sky, and the Golem stepped back, drawing itself to its full height to look down at the Gun Knight.

Rathus raised his rifle and fired in full auto, spraying the side of the construct with bullets, each impact tearing away a fist-sized chunk of rock. The Golem turned to look at him, almost dismissively, before shifting and calmly punting a nearby cart, sending it flying dangerously in his direction.

"Serve!" Musashi shouted, and blazed through the air, holding his Nugget by the barrel. He swung the gun with a mighty spin, bringing it down on the projectile in a vicious overhand mordhau that shattered the cart. The Gun Knight braced his legs against the pieces of the cart as it flew, before pushing off heavily, launching himself backwards while simultaneously halting the debris' advance.

He backflipped to maximise tactical aesthetics and landed in a crouch, sliding backwards to come to a stop a few feet in front of Rathus. He shot a cocky look at his friend from over the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. Rathus returned the gesture, before slamming another magazine into his Em-16.

"Strategy?!" Vyaz shouted, continuing to fire on the War Golem. The construct wrapped its fist around a metal smokestack, easily plucking it from the roof before hurling it at the Gun Knight. Obrez simply stepped and tilted to the side, without pausing in his assault. The metal stabbed into the roof near him, jutting out at an angle.

"Shoot it until it dies!" Kugelblitz replied. Her teeth were bared in a predatory smile, and her hair rose around her like a burning shroud as she began to conjure a ball of fire around her right hand.

"SCORCHING RAY!"

She thrust her hand forwards, and three beams of fire blasted forth, before twisting together and slamming into the Golem's back. The stone scorched, then began to melt, and the beams surged from the construct's chest, splattering molten rock on the front of the building.

The Star Mage grinned. "See? It doesn't even have any defensive wards on it. Don't let yourselves get intimidated by a jerry-rigged hauling golem."

The Golem looked down at the hole in its chest, touching it with one hand before turning to stare intently at the Star Mage. It drew back one massive arm, and Kugelblitz's smile vanished, her countenance becoming serious once more.

"Snap Fly," she uttered, and a flash of Star Magic enveloped her, enshrouding her in a pale blue nimbus. She flew up through the air, avoiding the Golem's fist as it whirled down towards her. She flitted up to the roof of the warehouse, flanking the Golem and coming to a stop next to Captain Grimm. The light faded around her, and she landed nimbly on her feet.

"Hauling golems don't move this fast," Captain Grimm countered. "Stick to giant-slaying techniques. Formation Jack Alpha!"

The Gun Knights nodded, and began to get to work. Vyaz secured his minigun on his back, while Rathus and Captain Grimm holstered their Em-16s. As one, the Gun Knights drew out a new type of gun: a long speargun. The weapon resembled some sort of cross between a rifle and a crossbow, with a winch attached on the back end of the gun. A thick, silken cord was wound around the spool of the winch, with the end sticking out for easy access.

Captain Grimm reached into the small leather ammo pouch on her left hip and slowly pulled out a long spear, viciously barbed and easily 3 feet long. She loaded it into the end of the speargun, and quickly attached the cord to a spot on the spear made just for such a purpose. She looked to the rest of her team. Obrez was ready to go. McGaff was just finishing tying off his cord now. Musashi was...

The youngest of the Gun Knights was looking wistfully at his Nugget, and had not yet drawn his speargun. Grimm opened her mouth to shout to him, when her instincts took over automatically. She drew her knife and swung it up, as suddenly two purple ripples appeared a few feet from Kugelblitz. Grimm swung her knife, and the blade sparked with an impact as she deflected the third shot. The flattened bullet spiraled through the air and fell at her feet.

Kugelblitz glanced up at the ripples as her force shield faded back into invisibility. The Star Mage raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you serious?"

Grimm found the attempted attack less entertaining. She turned to glare in the direction of the shots, and spied that a handful of the gangers had decided to seize hold of the advantage their construct had provided. While a few of them were milling about, armed with melee weapons, a good chunk had firearms of their own. She counted a few old hunting rifles, one or two decrepit service guns, and even what looked to be an automatic weapon, likely smuggled. She pursed her lips before whistling and gesturing down to Musashi and Rathus.

"Musashi! We're taking fire! Handle it!"

The young prodigy blinked at her, then smiled wide, giving her a small bow. Grimm nodded to herself. That gave her one less thing to worry about. Musashi was willful, but she could rely on him to clean up easily enough. It would save her an argument about him only using one gun. For now. She'd still make a note to bring it up during debriefing.

The Golem, meanwhile, had turned its attention to face her and Kugelblitz. It jerked its hand forward, and Agatha felt the roof beneath her feet rumble. She quickly leapt backwards, as a fist erupted from below her, enormous stone fingers closing on the spot she had just been. The hand withdrew, leaving a gaping hole as it passed out of view, and the Golem tore its arm from the building's interior.

"Son of a bitch..." she swore.

Behind the Golem, Musashi was whistling casually as he drew a stripper clip from his ammo pouch. There was a bright, dangerous glint in his eyes, and he casually tilted his head to one side. A shot ripped through the air in the space his head had previously occupied, flipping his hair up in its wake.

"Rathus, my friend, it seems that the locals have rolled out the welcome wagon."

Rathus shifted to one side, then used his knife to deflect another shot aimed at him. "I noticed. They must be real happy to see us."

Musashi calmly stepped towards him, and jerked his hand upwards, one finger pointing to the sky. "I simply must give them a 'thank you' card for their well-wishes. Would you give me a hand?"

Rathus chuckled, then crouched down, lowering one hand to about knee height, his palm up. Musashi placed a hand on his shoulder and stepped onto the offered palm. Rathus grunted with exertion and twisted, putting as much force as he could bring to bear as he hauled his hand up and launched his friend into the sky. The Gun Knight stumbled a bit after the throw, and turned to watch as Musashi soared a good twenty to thirty feet into the air.

From his vantage point high in the sky, Musashi stared down at the flabbergasted gangers, giving a wry grin. Time seemed to slow as his hands worked. He brought the Nugget up with one hand, bracing it against his upper arm in a loose style generally ill-advised for anybody who doesn't possess superhuman strength and agility. He sighted down the barrel and fired. The rifle let out a loud CRACK, and the shot blurred through the air. The first shot tore through the head of the closest ganger, before hitting the ground. Leaving behind a crater, the shot continued, ricocheting up and through the chest of one of the gangers behind his first target.

Musashi was already working the bolt, reloading the gun with his free hand, while he kept the stripper clip tucked between his pinky and ring finger. Two down. Looked like... eight left. He adjusted his aim to the side, and fired again. This time, the bullet sparked off a lightpost. The shot ricocheted, and tore through two gangers standing next to each other, entering at the lower stomach of the first ganger, and tracing a line until it exited from the upper back of the second.

The first opponent he had shot was only just starting to realize he had died, and was starting to fall as Musashi worked the bolt and lined up his third shot. He fired once more, and the bullet ricocheted off a statue in the courtyard behind the group, shooting off at an angle to hit the ganger holding the autorifle square in the chest. The shot continued through the ganger's lower back, and sparked off of a nearby metal bucket, denting it and sending it spiralling off the wall and into the air as the bullet veered off at an angle. Finally, the shot sank into the back of one of the thugs' legs.

Musashi worked the bolt and aimed once more. His fourth shot went through the head of the last thug, who was flinching with pain as his leg buckled beneath him. The shot ricocheted off of the ground and up, hitting the bucket in midair, and veering off to one side, to hit another member of the Sharks in the stomach. As he readied the final shot, the thug with the autorifle started to fall, firing wildly. His spray of shots hit one of his allies in the back, sending her tumbling over the cover she had been hiding behind. Musashi aimed his final shot and pulled the trigger as he reached the apex of his launch. Two more thugs fell, clutching at lethal wounds.

From Rathus' vantage point, Musashi had flown into the air, and let loose a rapid flurry of shots. Rathus glanced over at their assailants, to find all ten of the gangers fall in quick succession. Musashi landed in front of him, pulling the empty stripper clip out of his Nugget, having reloaded as he fell. The Gun Knight casually closed the bolt and spun the rifle to rest on his shoulders, in one smooth motion. He tucked the empty clip back into his ammo pouch and turned to look expectantly at Rathus.

He grinned a smile. "How was that?"

Rathus opened his mouth to reply, but movement caught his attention. He shoved Musashi and leapt back as the Golem's fist slammed into the ground between them.

"Proceed with Jack Alpha!" Grimm shouted. Rathus nodded and brought his speargun to bear.

"Who is 'Jack Alpha'?" Ruth asked. The pair had finished their food, and the princess was nursing a cup of warm cider. Rathus stirred his Moonblast with his straw, and leaned back in his chair.

"No, 'Alpha' as in 'Alpha', 'Beta', and so on. It's a series of techniques designed to take down large enemies. Giants, Golems, things like that. Works best on a humanoid shape."

Ruth nodded. "I presume that Jack refers to... you know, the Jack?"

Rathus took a sip of his drink, lifting one finger from his glass to point at the Princess. "Yeah. That's the one. Jack the Giant Slayer. The techniques are based on some of his tried and true methods."

"So, Jack Alpha is...?"

Rathus set his highball glass on the table and gestured to various points on it. "Use ropes or chains. In this case, spearguns. Attack at the limbs and joints, then haul it to the ground. Once it's down, hit it in the weak points."

Ruth looked at the glass. "Does that... work against a Golem? I would imagine they'd be very difficult to pull to the ground, considering their great strength. Which is not to say that you are weak, of course, but some of them can lift entire ships, can't they?"

Rathus cleared his throat. "Well, about that."

Rathus fired his speargun, lancing the golem through the left shoulder. He seized the rope and heaved, pulling it taut. Agatha, on the other side, was already pulling at her rope. Musashi ran to grab the cord and help Rathus haul the beast down. The Golem staggered backwards from their combined efforts, but did not fall.

On the rooftop, Vyaz stared the construct down. It roared at him, and hurled a chunk of rock. The Gun Knight ducked behind the fallen smokestack that the beast had earlier thrown at him. He regarded it for a moment, cocking his ear towards it. With a nod, he looked up at the War Golem, and grinned, spreading his lips wide to reveal a mouth of sharp teeth.

The Orc stepped forwards and placed his hand on the smokestack, closing his eyes with concentration. The air dimmed around him, and a series of voices issued from his mouth, whispering in an overlapping susseration. He opened his eyes, and they burned with the heat of the forge as he Spoke a single word.

"COPPER"

The smokestack rippled as he commanded its True Name. The metal warped and rolled, folding its torn edges into a clean point. as it condensed and folded in on itself, changing shape to form a massive bolt, heavier than any ballista could fire. He patted the side of the metal, which now gleamed with deadly purpose. With a flick of his hand, the copper rod flew from its position, launching with great speed directly into the face of the Golem. The stone gave way, and the rod tore through the construct, leaving only two small lumps on either side of where the head had been.

Vyazz fell to one knee, clutching his head as the exertion tore through his mind, his Intent fully spent in a single go. He glanced up at the Golem, which was reeling backwards from the force of the blow. Grimm and the younger Knights seized the initiative, and pulled with all their might.

The Golem toppled backwards, and Vyaz smiled as it disappeared from view. He stood carefully to his feet, his stamina already returning thanks to the Vow that empowered him. He paused as he dusted off his hands. Something wasn't right. He moved to the edge of the building, avoiding the areas damaged by the construct's previous attacks. A thought began to nag at him.

Where was the earth-shattering kaboom?

Down below, the Gun Knights stared with shocked silence at the Golem, which had fallen backwards as planned, but somehow had twisted around fast enough to break its fall with a single hand. Despite their best efforts, the construct was still pulling itself upright.

"It... shouldn't be able to move like that," Grimm muttered. The War Golem pulled itself upright, then reached out with its free hand, to grab the cord Rathus and Musashi were holding. Rathus released the cord and backed up. Musashi let go of the rope, then realized that he had wound it around his hand for a better grip.

"No bully," Musashi squeaked, before he was yanked off his feet and slammed into a nearby wall. The golem jerked, and Musashi, still holding the cord, blasted out from the opposite wall of the warehouse, covered in a variety of linens and shards of wood. The Golem whipped the cord and launched him skyward.

Grimm watched the pioneer as he aimed for the stars. Kugelblitz gave him a respectful salute.

"Alright..." the Captain said, pausing to catch her breath. "This won't work. Switch to Jack Beta. Tie it down and chop it up."

Vyaz gave her a tired thumbs up, and began to unspool the cord from his speargun's winch. He wound one end around one of the exposed support beams of the roof, and cinched it tight, before tying the other end of the rope to his spear. He raised the gun and fired, sending the spear jutting through the Golem's right shoulder.

The construct leaned away, snapping the rope taut. The wood of the support beam began to creak, and Vyaz swore under his breath. He had been half-expecting that, but had still held out hope that the support beams would prove sturdy enough to hold. He ran to the edge of the roof and leapt, diving headfirst to the street, where he tucked into a roll before springing up into a run.

The Golem seized the rope with its right hand and leaned back, PULLING at the building. The rope began to vibrate, its image blurring somewhat, as the Names of Steel and Adamantine which had been Overlaid into it struggled to keep it intact. The wooden beam gave way first, however, and with one last tug, the wood cracked, and the building began to collapse on itself, as the support beam was pulled loose.

The Golem stared facelessly at the rubble, then tugged experimentally on the rope. The debris shifted, but the rope was still caught on the pile. It shifted to grab hold of the rope with both hands, when a spear lanced through its rocky leg. Rathus tugged the other end of the rope taut around the lightpost, and signalled to Agatha.

The Captain, on top of the building across the way, leaned over in the direction of Kugelblitz, who had cast Fly and was floating next to her.

"If we immobilize him, can you counteract the Script?" Agatha gestured to the Book of Mandates hanging from Kugelblitz's hip.

The Dessite looked down at the Golem and gave a nonchalant shrug. "Depends on how complex the Script is. For something thrown together by a couple Gangers? I can probably just Veto it with my eyes closed. Want me to take a look?"

Grimm gave a nod to the affirmative, and Kugelblitz lifted her left hand, trailing her fingers towards the ground as if manipulating a marionette. Her Book of Mandates rose into the air, its securing chain dangling below it. The bronze latch sprang open, and the large leather-bound tome began to flip through the pages as it floated to rest just under her hand.

Kugeblitz scanned the Golem, her eyes darting over it. Grimm, meanwhile, finished tying off her cord to a large cinderblock. Kugelblitz remained silent, but her expression slowly grew darker the more she stared at the construct.

"Problems?" Agatha loaded the spear into her gun and watched the Star Mage expectantly.

Kugelblitz glowered at the War Golem. "This is... this isn't right at all. The Law is, is all over the place. What the hell even is this?" She muttered under her breath as she followed the invisible lines of action Written into the construct. "This is... there's no clear flow. Everything is all tangled up. I can't make any sense of it. Whoever made this was either some kind of genius, or a complete idiot."

"But can you disable it?" Captain Grimm asked.

Kugelblitz hesitated. She looked over to the Gun Knight captain and shrugged, with all the surly conviction of a disaffected teenager.

"Look, it's not a matter of strength, or ability. Can I Veto it? Yeah, of course I can. Obviously. There's no doubt there. But, I don't specialize in Golem-crafting. If I Veto it, well, they might have something that automatically corrects for that. Sometimes they even lay a trap in there so your Veto only hits the control aspect of the Script, and you wind up making it run wild."

Agatha listened patiently, sparing a glance at the Golem as Musashi rocketted from the sky and exploded into its shoulder with a plunging punch. Rocks exploded from the joint, leaving a crater from the impact. Musashi pulled himself from the wreckage and leapt away, as the Golem snatched for him.

"HA! Take that, you stone bastard. Oh, my fist is broken."

Agatha glanced back to Kugelblitz, who was finishing up her response.

"So, uh, if you want somebody to carefully overwrite its programming and safely disable its Script, maybe you should have asked for one of those stuffy nerds who study piles of rocks all day."

The Star Mage regathered her confidence, and gave Captain Grimm a vicious, snarling grin.

"But you got me instead. And while I may not be able to make a golem as well as they can, I'd like to see them do THIS."

She lifted her hand, shifting the book to float in front of her, then began to use her hands to trace the shape of a sphere in the space in front of her. An aura of Star Magic began to glow around her, a dim light that started to grow brighter.

Agatha stiffened as she stared at the Star Mage working.

"Is that...?"

Kugelblitz nodded with satisfaction. "One shot from my specialty will put that thing out of commission for good."

Agatha shook her head with severe finality. "Absolutely not. We're in the middle of a city; there's civilians everywhere. We're not using that unless we exhaust all other options."

Kugelblitz shot Grimm a dirty look, but dropped her hands, and the light surrounding her faded back out.

"Are you serious? Have you seen the street?" The Star Mage gestured to the destroyed buildings on the periphery of the combat.

Agatha crossed her arms. "If the Golem somehow gets away from us, or if it looks like it'll do more damage than you would do to the town, go ahead and take the shot."

Captain Grimm raised her speargun and sighted the War Golem. "For now though, support us with artillery fire. Also, I'll need that to be heavy." She gestured with her thumb at the large cinderblock to which she had secured the cord.

Kugelblitz rolled her eyes, but walked to the cinderblock, and dropped into a crouch resting her hand upon its concrete surface. However, she did not immediately cast a spell. There was no telltale purple glow that came with her usage of Star Magic, and she spoke no incantations. Instead, she brought her other hand before her, and her floating Book of Mandates was quick to follow. There might have been any number of Star Magic spells she might have used to accomplish Agatha's request, but she had no need to expend her finite and difficult to replenish Astral Mana. After all, she wasn't JUST a Star Mage.

She was also a Juror, and the power of Law was hers to command.

The Book of Mandates flipped to a specific page as she began to speak. With each Word, her voice resonated, carrying with it the weight of the Law which comprised of and ruled all things.

"I hereby DECLARE my Authority as a JUROR, and by Witness of the Judge and the World do I exert my WORD and INTENT to set into motion these changes."

"Witness the..." Kugelblitz paused to scrutinize the chunk of stone Agatha had bound with the rope. "Cinderblock which rests beneath my hand. Hereafter shall it be referred to as Object B."

Agatha raised an eyebrow at the Juror's lazy choice of designation, but said nothing. She watched the fight below as Vyaz fired another rope into the construct's joint, and Musashi carefully chugged an entire healing potion. Her eye twitched at the wasteful excess.

[Book of Bindings: Section 1.g.ix.8: "And as all things sprang from the core of creation, so shall they be drawn back together, such that all things draw unto themselves the sum of all other things. With respect to themselves shall their force be determined by their significance, and by their distance."]

Kugelblitz took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. A bright blue light shined from the depths, glowing with the soft color of the sky.

"I hereby DECLARE: Let amended be the gravitational force of Object B. By my INTENT, let it be affected one-hundredfold by the Attractive Force. This Amendment shall last until Dismissed, to a maximum of 10 hours."

The cinderblock sparked with blue light, and Kugelblitz's hair billowed around her head, floating as if acted upon by a powerful force, which may have startled anybody who wasn't paying attention to the fact that powerful forces were in fact currently in play.

"This I DECLARE. By my WORD let it be wrought, by my INTENT let it be borne. In the name of the WORD, in the name of LAW."

She snapped the Book of Mandates closed. The cinderblock was by all apperances unchanged, but the roof beneath it began to crack and buckle. The cinderblock sank through the crumbling roof and fell through into the room below, trailing the cord behind it. Agatha gave a hearty tug on the rope once it landed, but was unable to lift the brick, or even shift it. She backed away from the small hole it had left in the roof.

She nodded appreciatively, and turned to Kugelblitz.

"Ten hours?"

The Juror brushed her nails on her shirt, realized she wasn't wearing a shirt, and brushed her nails on her jacket instead. "It's just a single Amendment. Gravity's my specialty, so I could hold that thing perpetually, even at a thousand times gravity. Ten hours is kind of arbitrary, but I hope that gives you enough time to finish this thing off. Let me know if you need more."

Captain Grimm ignored the barb and shook her head. "Ten minutes probably would have been fine, even. You can still cast Star Magic while using that, right?"

Kugelblitz stared at her in silence. Grimm waited patiently for a moment before remembering what, exactly, Kugelblitz's 'specialty' was.

"Right. Sorry. Stupid question."

Grimm sighted the Golem and fired, sending her harpoon through the back of its left leg. She stepped away from the cord, backing further onto the roof and holstering her speargun. The Golem took one thundering step and the cord went taut, tearing a straight line through the roof like a piece of wire through a soft cheese. The construct moved fitfully, dragging its limbs behind it, as the Gun Knights fired more and more tethering cables to it.

Rathus rolled under another wide swipe, and shot his spear up through the palm. He hopped over the cord as it snapped taut, pulling the wreckage of what had once been a wooden stall a few feet along the road.

Musashi threw his empty potion bottle at the Golem, before firing a few shots into its left shoulder. It twisted around to face him, tangling itself in the cords. The construct stumbled, reaching down to pull at the cords with its arms as it tried to free itself.

Grimm whipped her hand forward. "Now! Fire for effect!"

Kugelblitz didn't have to be asked twice. With a surge of power, she fired off her spell, lancing a beam of light through the Golem's left shoulder.

"SEARING RAY!"

The beam cut through the joint, leaving a molten hole. With a noise of exertion, Kugelblitz kept the beam going, and arced it up, cutting through the limb like an arc-welder. She released her hold on the spell, and the beam winked out, leaving just the barest trace of stone still connecting the arm to the Golem's torso.

As if in response to an unspoken command, Musashi ran for a nearby light pole, carrying himself up it in two steps before launching off towards the construct. He landed against the arm, twisting himself in midair to strike with both feet before propelling himself off.

His leap carried him to the roof of the building, while the force of his landing gave the last little push the limb needed, before it tore off completely and crashed to the ground below, shattering into so much gravel.

"Nicely done!" Grimm commended.

The War Golem started dumbly at its shattered arm on the ground, as Kugelblitz shifted through the air to take aim at the next limb.

"Hit its left leg next, and we can bring it down. That should render it helpless enough to..." Grimm trailed off as the Golem suddenly shifted its mass, slamming its body into the pile of rubble that had once comprised its arm.

The Gun Knights hesitated, standing at the ready as the construct drew itself back up. Before Rathus's disbelieving eyes, the stones began to shift and draw together, flowing like an hourglass in reverse, attaching themselves to the golem and rebuilding the arm that had been shorn from its body. The War Golem flexed its new arm, which was shorter by several inches, and still had a rough, uneven seam where the two cut halves had met.

It regarded its fresh limb experimentally, before digging its fist into the street. It lifted a handful of cobblestones, concrete, and dirt, and crushed it in its palm. The fist swelled, and a lump of mass began to work its way up the arm, until it reached the damaged seam. Slowly, the new rocks worked themselves into the gaps, replacing the damaged pieces and filling in the gaps that had been melted away. The Golem siezed another handful of street, and its squat head began to reshape itself once more, as well as the hole that had been melted into its torso.

In just a few seconds, all of the damage the construct had taken in its fight with the Gun Knights had been fully restored.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kugelblitz swore.

The Golem let out a triumphant roar, and dug its claws into its other arm, forcibly tearing out the embedded spear, along with a chunk of stone. It grabbed hold of the now-free cord with both arms, and pulled, sending the cart that had been attached to the other end whipping into the air towards the Star Mage.

Kugelblitz dove out of the way, her magic whisking her through the air like some kind of bikini-wearing bird of prey. She fired a retaliatory shot, blasting a chunk out of the side of the Golem's head.

Agatha ran along the side of the roof, as the Golem raked its hand through the wall below her. She barely kept ahead of the crumbling surface before reaching the end and leaping with Musashi to the next roof. The entire edifice of the building collapsed behind her, and the Golem quickly whipped around to face Vyaz next, who had found his way to another roof, and was firing upon the construct with his minigun.

"Alright! I'm open to ideas!" she shouted. The Golem gripped the edge of the roof Vyaz was standing on with both hands and began to lift, sending cracks and tremors through the top of the building. The Orcish Gun Knight quickly focused his fire on one of the construct's wrists, severing it with the hail of bullets, but not before the roof shifted beneath his feet. He took one, two, unsteady steps before he began to slide down the sudden slope caused by the uneven tearing of the roof, and plunged into the dusty depths of the warehouse.

Rathus, on the street below, heaved with all his might, and swung a cord in with both arms, bringing the lightpost moored to the other end spinning around like the head of a morningstar. The pole stabbed into the Golem's back, embedding itself just below the construct's 'throat'.

"Hit its weak points?" Musashi suggested to Captain Grimm, firing rapidly with his Nugget. His hands blurred along the gun, working the bolt and reloading it almost too fast for the eye to follow. Steam rose from the gun's body, but he seemed unaffected by the heat of the firearm. "It has to have a weak point, right?"

Kugelblitz gestured to the back of her neck. "Find its Script! The Script is the Golem's heart, it can't run if you pull it out of the body."

Vyaz burst from a window, covered in dust and smeared in patches of his own blood. He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out the small vellum scroll that Captain Grimm had given to each of the Knights.

"Captain! Permission to activate my Warrant of Release?" He held the vellum above his head, shouting to his commanding officer. "Just tell me where to hit the damn thing, and I'll do the job!"

Kugelblitz gestured again, with exasperation. "It's in the back of the neck, damn it! I'm not doing this for my health! They always put the Script in the back of the neck, right at the base!"

Agatha nodded to Vyaz. A cloud of dust flew into her face as the Golem hurled a chunk of stone at her. She ducked under it, coughing.

"Do it," she wheezed.

Vyaz smiled and brought the scroll to his face, tearing off the wax seal with his teeth. He unfurled the vellum, and the wind caught it, billowing it out into the sun. Golden, embossed lettering filled the page, the sort of ornate display only seen in high governance and on gaudy wedding announcement cards. However, the only marriage today was between a Gun Knight and a fuckton of incredible powers, as Vyaz lifted the Warrant and began to speak.

"By this written Warrant, do I speak with the Authority and Intent of the Seat of the Emperor. In the name of Wylos The Conqueror, Emperor of the Eternal Star, as written and executed by the Imperial Regent, Dozarias Shado, I hereby activate my Vow. Let nothing stand in the way of the Emperor's Will, or the course of my mission."

His words echoed around him, as the writing on the Vellum began to glow brighter, burning with an intensity that soon manifested in reality, as the lettering began to ignite, reducing the vellum to ash on the wind. Vyaz Obrez took a deep breath, and his eyes began to shine, taking on a silvery, metallic luster. The glow began to run from the corners of each eye like molten lead through a casting tray, and traced its way along his body, splitting off at right angles to trace a web around his body. The lines met at his elbows, many points coming into one as they began to pool, flowing as one solid mass along the full length of his forearms. The glow covered his hands, and soon seemed to cool, forming a steel-like coating that ended in sharp, clawed fingers.

The Gun Knight looked down at his claws and chuckled to himself, a deep throaty laugh.

"Once Again Am I Lifted By My Burden, That My Responsibilities Shall Become The Strength Needed To Meet Them."

He carefully dusted the lapels of his jacket, staring distastefully at the dirt and blood stains which marred them. He looked up at the Golem and cracked his knuckles.

"Strange stone idol that you are, a mockery of life, or perhaps you are meant to be an homage. Life is soul meeting sand, motion and matter in one. And yet here you are, motion and matter entwined, but no life to be seen."

"He's getting all psuedointellectual again..." Kugelblitz sighed. She leaned down and shouted to the Gun Knight. "Oi! Can you quit the philo-sophistry already and get to work?!"

Musashi shot Kugelblitz a disapproving glance, and wagged his finger. "A work of art such as yourself should not seek to silence an artist. This world always has room for more beauty."

Vyaz laughed as he looked to his companion. "Well said! A world with you in it needs all the beauty it can get." He looked back to the Golem as Musashi returned his laughter. The Gun Knight rolled his shoulders and squared off against the construct.

"Sand with no soul. Matter with motion. Allow me to bring you stillness."

At that, the Gun Knight surged into motion. With blinding speed, he blitzed between the construct's legs, making the unnaturally fast Golem look clumsy as it reached in vain for him, crouching over in its attempts to grasp him. The Gun Knight turned and leapt onto the stony back of the Golem, bracing himself against the light pole which was still embedded in its torso. He reared back and punched, digging his hand up to the elbow in the rocky surface between the Golem's shoulderblades. He tore his fist out, hewing a chunk of rock from the surface. His left arm darted in at the same time, finding similar purchase as it dug into the Golem's back.

The Construct reached back to seize the offending Gun Knight, but with a sharp TWANG, found its movements halted, as a spear shot into its hand. The attached cord pulled taut, securing the Golem's arm to the support column of a partially-collapsed building. Rathus reloaded another spear, looking around for another mooring point.

On its back, Vyaz continued to ravenously tear stones chunk after chunk from the construct. As he dug, new rock began to flow to fill the wounds, reinforcing against his efforts. With a growl, he began to pick up the pace, digging a veritable trench into the Golem's neck. The Golem gave up on trying to free its left hand and reached for the Gun Knight with its right hand. A blast from Kugelblitz burned through its elbow, weakening the joint. Musashi fired in quick succession, perforating the limb with shots, until the shattered and molten stone could support the weight of the arm no more, and the forearm sloughed off onto the ground.

The Golem quickly looked from limb to limb, and attempted (as best as it was able with no proper neck) to twist to look at the Gun Knight digging into its back. Finally, it seemed to come to a decision, and crouched, before leaping into the air. Rathus startled as the towering giant easily jumped a full story into the air, and rolled backwards, intent on crushing Vyaz beneath its weight.

Kugelblitz sneered as she held her hand out. "You fool!" Her magic flashed as she cast one of her fastest, and simplest spells, a spell usually only of basic utility. The Golem was enveloped in a flash of white light as she brought her Star Magic to bear.

"Featherfall!"

The Golem, instead of crashing thunderously to the earth and reducing Vyaz to a smear, instead began to gently float to the surface, at a glacial pace. Vyaz clung to the construct's back, and continued to tear into the stone, making slow headway as the shifting rocks sought to undo his efforts. The Golem sank to earth slowly, and Vyaz began to shout a battlecry, roaring as he dug further and further into the construct's mass.

WIth a gentle THUD, the Golem landed on the ground, and the spell faded. There was a louder crash as the Golem settled, and lay, still, on its back. However, there was no sign of Vyaz from beneath, and the Golem made no move to right itself. Agatha held her breath as she waited, watching the War Golem as it lay there. She reached for the pouch in which she stored her own Warrant of Release. Just in case.

"Vyaz!" Rathus shouted. No response came from the construct, and for a moment, the battlefield was still, the dust in the air finally deciding it was time to settle down, and maybe start thinking about real estate. The young Gun Knight stared at the motioneless Golem, waiting for any sign from his companion.

The Golem shifted, and began to shudder with movement. Captain Grimm lifted the scroll and thumbed the wax seal. The Golem's chest began to lift from the ground, as if the construct was sitting up, before it sudddenly exploded outwards in a shower of rocks. A steel claw emerged from the stone, fist clenched. A second hand blasted forth to meet it, and with furious swipes, Vyaz tore himself free of the wreckage, having dug a tunnel all the way through the War Golem's torso. He raised himself up and held aloft a small metal box.

Agatha breathed a sigh of relief and stowed her Warrant as Vyaz lifted the metal box containing the Golem's Script, presenting it to the sky.

"In The Name Of The Emperor! I Offer A Heart Of Stone! Beaten Once, May It Beat No More!"

Kugelblitz stared down at the Poet-Knight. "Was that a fucking pun?"

"Hush," Musashi hushed, shaking his head with a blissful serenity. "Puns are art."