Chapter 7 – Rapid Raid

Medieval England. 4:00am, 1301.

Having spent the morning and a part of the afternoon getting all of the supplies off for The Grizz to set up his prehistoric art scam, and the rest of the day in ancient Arabia to recruit some document forgers, the blimp arrives in Medieval England to get Penelope set up with her slice of the plan. In the pitch black darkness, they have no idea exactly where they are just by looking. However, thanks to modern technology, a night vision camera illustrates to them that they are near to a town with a large castle on a hill that sticks out of the smooth rolling hills. It's Penelope's target location, the place she is going to be stationed at. It's not going to be a walkover, that's why she has been busy on the engineering deck, building robots from the materials they had on board. She has about 40 at the moment, not much but she plans to continue building more once she has control of the town. Also with the extra steel that was left over, she built a suit of armour for herself. However, she isn't strong enough to even wear a normal suit of armour, this suit of armour more resembles a mech in that she doesn't wear it, but controls it.

Le Paradox isn't up at the moment, he's sleeping after the long day he had in watching over the two more tangible aspects of his plan. Everything had gone without a hitch, everything is on schedule. The schedule being key to the entire plan. The precise times that they are in are all set to lead the raccoon on a merry path through time as he comes oh so close each time, inflicting the maximum amount of emotional toll every time. In this case, this is two weeks before the time that Sly Cooper would be sent to if he ever found out about their prehistoric art scam. If he never arrives then Penelope would be picked up from this time and returned to the present, or at least that's what Le Paradox has told her. Therefore, she has two weeks to take of over the town before the moment Sly Cooper arrives. It's not a moment as such, but a range. The carbon dating machine used on the crown is accurate to within a day, so there is a window they have to be on high alert for in case he causes a hindrance in the plan.

In any case, she has to wait for Le Paradox to wake up at his own accord before she goes, she needs to make sure that he knows how to use the time machine properly otherwise he won't get himself or her out of this time. So she continues to prepare her mini army to storm the town at dawn hopefully if Le Paradox is an early riser, the worst time would be when people below have realized that there is a huge three dimensional flying oval in the sky and decide that the best course of action is to attack it. So, with the help of the remaining crew on board or more precisely the work, they build another 20 in the next three hours as the sun begins to creep out from the grassy and tree lined horizon.

To her relief Le Paradox shows himself, still tired though, at 7am to allow her to leave the blimp.

"You can leave now, I'm just going to, to get my self an espresso." Le paradox says, drunken with sleep as he walks back into the same corridor he came out of. The skunk is too eager to get this all done so he can get to the part of the plan that is of the most excitement to him. But there is a nagging feeling in Penelope that tells her Le Paradox isn't fit to control the blimp. So she doesn't leave, instead, she waits for Le Paradox to re emerge so she can explain this to him. He returns five minutes later, seemingly reinvigorated.

"You're still here? I told you to leave." Le Paradox repeats, with no signs of being tired at all. That espresso must have been at least a triple shot. There is a conflict in Penelope's head. On one hand is the need to follow his orders and on the other is seeing the bigger picture and wondering if he can take this airship solo through time.

"Do you know how to operate the time machine?" Penelope asks, for her own self-preservation.

"Yes, yes. I choose the time on the readout then get high enough to clear obstacles and then press the huge big red button that causes everything to become a psychedelic blur. Now if you would please leave the ship, that would be very kind of you." Le Paradox instructs. Despite his hasty explanation, it makes Penelope feel comfortable to leave the airship in Le Paradoxes somewhat capable hands. She gathers her small army and leads them off in her own mechanized suit of armour, heading towards the castle. As she is left with no other living contact as they march on, the blimp begins to rise out into the morning sun and disappear before her eyes as it goes off into another time. All she can think about is how to raid this town, with only 60 military units +1 and the 40 rats behind them to help with various technological projects. It would have been helpful to have Sebastian think of a way and tell it in her ear, but he can't. The communication link can't be made across time. However, it's the first time she has had any thought for someone other than those directly involved with the task at hand, even before Bentley.

Bentley. Suddenly a rush of hate fills her, the earlier planted seed of motivation makes her want to attack, which is the right sort of mood one needs when they need to take over a small village. It's visible to herself inside the body of the mechanized knight, but it's not what she feels. On the inside of those emotions is another layer, the one that the chip suppresses. She loves him, the last eight years have been very productive, but the chip takes that love and buries it down, much like one would try and bury their secrets or horrible, embarrassing moments. It comes up every now and then, much like those embarrassing thoughts, but the chip makes her return to what her needs are. On the outside, she is extremely stable, eager to continue advancing. On the inside, the chip is trying to replicate that stability as best it can.

It takes 30 minutes to march the 2 kilometres towards the foot of the castle, to where they are greeted with the sight of four archers leaning of the parapets of the high stone walls. The rats had been moved into the forest for their protection, Penelope knows that these robot warriors can't build anything. With only a 15 metre wide channel of water separating the two sides, the archers don't feel very safe with their arrows, as they won't make a dent on these unworldly soldiers.

"I demand to talk to your king!" Penelope demands in the deep voice she set the mech to output to make herself sound tougher.

"Lord Hemingsby is not here, go acquaint thyselves with Baron Fotheringham over yonder hill to the east to find our lord!" A messenger shouts from the top of the wall.

"Then you need to decide if this castle needs a leader who can stay in his castle or the gate is coming down." Penelope challenges.

"We can wait this out for longer than you, our harvest is most bountiful." The messenger taunts.

"I don't want a siege, I want a raid, and if you don't lower the drawbridge then you will be dead when I count to five." Penelope retorts.

"Our walls are stronger than your steel!" He taunts again.

"Five!" Penelope announces, going straight to five, giving him no chance to run.

"Stop!" A booming voice shouts from behind. "You give him a scratch and I'll give all of you quick deaths!" Penelope turns around to see who this is, but he is so far back she has to zoom in on the top of his helmet to see the only thing she can see. She can't see the face because this knight is not taller than 2 and a half meters, the height of all of her minions. Outnumbered 61 to one, Penelope thinks this hotshot has overstepped the line between brave and stupid and decides to give a taunt of her own. Except, this taunt isn't in the form of words, but in the form of a thrown sword from one of her minions that has sliced the messenger in half just below the armpits. The sword is heard crashing into one of the stone buildings inside the castle walls as the two half separate away from their view.

"You've asked for it!" He says before commencing the seemingly impossible task of taking on an army by himself.

"Attack!" Penelope instructs. The knight seems to move in a blur as all of the robots surround him and eventually crowd around the battle, as there is no space for them to swing a sword. The ballistics computer inside the mech unit automatically catches an arrow that one of the archers decided to fire, if it didn't get caught, it may even stratch the black paint if it's a really good shot. But instead, the arrow is caught and flung straight back to where it came from, catching a bit of bone and internal organs on the way. Meanwhile, to her surprise, the parts of at least 10 of her minions can be seen around the huddling group of robots waiting to get a crack at this surprisingly successful and skillful knight. She may be slightly worried at his better than expected result, but she watches this battle, waiting for the killer blow to be struck. It doesn't come, she waits and waits for it but parts continue to fly and more robots come in to try the exact same thing. She briefly wonders who could be so powerful and skillful to do this, but he mind is instantly taken to one answer, a Cooper. She doesn't know which one, she never read the heavily guarded relic of Cooper history that sat in it's special pedestal near Bentley's workstation. But whoever it is, they are destroying her minions like they were straw targets.

As the amount of guards begins to dwindle below 30, meaning half of her guards had been defeated, Penelope decides that she needs to step in.

"Enough!" She shouts, stopping all of the guards attacking the Cooper. "You fight me!"

"And to whom do I have the pleasure of defeating this morning?" The Cooper shouts up to the huge suit of armour that looks down to him.

"I am the Black Knight, and who are you?" She asks.

"I am Sir Galleth from the knights of the Cooper Order!" Sir Galleth replies. "Prepare your battleaxe for battle!"

"With pleasure" Penelope replies, readying the huge battleaxe that is as long as Sir Galleth is tall. Sir Galleth draws his own sword with the signature hook at the end, but he knows he won't be able to strike a devastating blow against an opponent of such size and bulk. He puts on his usual aggression and charges quickly towards the Black Knight but Sir Galleth doesn't get to the knights feet as he is tripped up by a huge swing of the bottom of the axe that he tried to dodge. Sir Galleth tries to get back up quickly but he is pinned back by the edge of the axe right next to his neck.

"Do you surrender?" The black knight asks to the trapped raccoon.

"Never!" Sir Galleth defiantly says as he tries to roll out of the pin, but instead the back of the axe presses harder on his neck to the point he can't breath. The raccoon tries to move himself away but after 10 seconds of frantic movement, he taps the compacted dirt, signaling to the black knight that he has given up. This is the worst day for Sir Galleth, it's his first ever loss in a duel.

"Get up!" The black knight demands as Sir Galleth tries to get his breath back. He slowly gets onto his feet with the realization that he has lost hanging over him, letting down everyone who inhabits this village and especially to the Lord when he returns.

"Who is your Lord?" The black knight asks to the shocked raccoon. He holds his breath, not wanting to admit it openly.

"You say it or you die." She warns. With his defiance drained from him, he feels ashamed at admitting it.

"You are. The, the black knight, is the new lord." He says to Penelope. It would be more embarrassing that he lost to a girl, but he doesn't know that.

"Yes, yes I am." She says, confirming it to herself. "Now seize him."

"Hey let me go!" He shouts to the robotic warriors that pick him up.

"Tell them where your prison is so you can be thrown into it." The black knight demands. "But first, you have to announce my reign to your people."

There could be no more soul destroying thing right now, having to admit defeat to everyone who trusted him to protect the town.

"I already have!" Sir Galleth insists.

"Is this a town of one?" She asks rhetorically. "March into the town and tell them the good news."

"No one is in the town!" Sir Galleth says, trying to explain to her is reasoning.

"You evacuated everyone? I demand that…" The black knight begins to ask.

"Everyone is inside the castle walls!" Sir Galleth finally explains. "They can hear everything!"

"I'm not convinced." She tells him before grabbing him whole with one hand and throwing him on top of the wall, where he lands perfectly without tumbling, right next to the archer that had his bow trained on the intruder for the entire encounter but never fired. Sir Galleth trudges to the opposite parapet, to the few hundred grouped inside the walls for protection. The sight of him being thrown onto the top of the wall shows them how overpowered he was and how futile his efforts were.

"I pronounce from this day forthwith, that Lord Hemingsby is no longer in charge. Our new leader is behind those walls. Lower the drawbridge!" He commands as his last act in his current position. Some of the inhabitants go to either side of the gate and lower it down as fast as possible. To show the huge knight with the remainder of it's posse behind with the extra personnel from behind the trees having reemerged.

"Where is the nearest Iron mine?" Is the black knight's first question to the population.

"Um, Sir." One of the people tries to say.

"I am not Sir. I am the black knight." She says without moving at all.

"Okay." The pig says worriedly, quaking as he stands. "Black knight, We are not miners, we must trade for our steel which was why our Lord." The black knight puts a hand on the sword at this disrespect. "Our previous Lord, is away."

"Send a messenger to Hemingsby. Tell him to get all the steel they have and I'll spare his life. If he doesn't then he will be executed in front of you when he returns. Also tell him to get every labourer or miner as well." She demands. One of the crowd stands up and runs quickly to the stables to get a horse to deliver this message.

"As for the rest of you, I know that there is iron below our feet. All of you that can perform manual labour will walk 2 kilometres east to a cave and dig out the iron in that cave, my assistants will aid this with their own equipment."

"What is this, kilometre?" One of the people asks bravely.

"My apologies, walk 1.247 miles." She corrects as she calculates the exact length from the onboard computer, which had also controlled a sonar scan for iron ore deposits in the area.

"Yards are easier to count." He replies.

"2,187 yards roughly. Everyone go to that mine." She commands as every male gets up and groups together as they begin their journey for iron along with a few of the guards and some of the rats with their advanced technological knowledge for this period.

"I have no use for anyone else who can't work. So find a new town or consider working, I don't want to have to kill innocent children." She orders. That takes care of everyone except for the guards who stand on the inside perimeter of the wall and on top of the wall.

"All guards are now my guards, I want the entire town patrolled day and night in 13 moons time. For now, you join the miners." She instructs. "Except for you Sir Galleth. You will be put into prison until I can think of a more humiliating punishment. Oh, and I want your sword now." She demands. Sir Galleth throws it from the top of the wall onto the dirt floor, making the black knight's metal boots slightly dirty.

"Come down and go into the prison yourself or I'll do it for you." She insists. Sir Galleth does it himself as he jumps from the top of the wall and slides down a flagpole to get to the ground before trudging through the soft semi dry dirt to a small stone building that functions as the prison. He walks inside and shackles himself by the ankle to a chain that's attached to the wall. Penelope peeks through the tiny opening just to make sure. This takeover was easier than she thought, only the Cooper put up resistance, and hopefully the next one won't be any harder.