When Cain gets to his first Knight world and conquers it.
File from the Bringers Of Renewed Greatness.
The Templars of Freedom (TF) and the Workers-At-Arms (WAA)
When the Liberator arrived at Lancelot Primaris, it was the first time the BORG bore witness to the Imperial Knights. However, their wonder with an example of the Omnissiah's genius was quickly dashed when they witnessed the sheer inefficiency of how the world was run. These feudal worlds were backwards planets maintained by oppressors unworthy of the Machine God's gifts keeping the planet in its pitiful condition.
Following the claiming of the planet after orchestrating and supporting Peasants' revolt (Not helped by the fact that the knights of Knight House Gwynevere had machine spirits that had to put down more revolts than fighting the enemies of mankind), the BORG reverse engineered the knights and made their own for the protectorate. The Liberator was simultaneously ecstatic yet cautious. No doubt knowing the "noble" nature of the machine spirits and assets they could present for the Protectorate.
Logically, the Liberator was disgusted with how the Knight Worlds were run by the Knight Houses. As such, he devises a new way to use these wonders of the Omnissiah. They would be given to specially trained members of the USA and be supported by aircraft after being orbitally dropped into the combat zone from orbit via a specialized drop pod that was drawn up by a magos (referred to by the USA as a "Knightfall"). The Strategy was encouraged by the Liberator personally. The Protectorate Templar would then be fighting inside the enemy lines while the other forces close in.
However, a certain Templar Knight pilot, Jackarius Coopinious, is known to have a multi-purpose automated worker-engine within his Knight, Beta-Theta 7274. The engine is programmed to have the Knight follow him around and support him with fire while he fights using a specially modified power armor designed for mobility and a lasgun. When the situation calls for it, he would begin piloting his Knight, which would increase his combat efficiency. This strategy was repeated across the ranks of the Templars of Freedom, namely those who worshiped Khorne, to great effect. This led to an effort amongst the TF to increase their martial prowess outside their Knights yet work in tandem with their knights. Veteran Templars are known to swear up and down that their steeds are more resistant to jamming, their weapons are more accurate, and their steeds follow them closer and fire more accurately when not being piloted. Some have even claimed that their knights have protected them with their lives.
The Liberator's plans did not end there, however. He also ordered a civilian variant of the Knights be made available to the average workforce of the Protectorat. This Magos will admit he was skeptical of this at first, but since the introduction after Tesilon-Kappa's orders, output increased drastically. The civilian models helped with construction, resource gathering, and even surveying. Those who pilot these new models are known as the Workers-At-Arms (WAA).
The BORG has even offered to build the Liberator a new prototype model of the knight. However, he declined the offer due to inexperience with piloting it. In hindsight, a very reasonable outcome of the proposal. However, the prototype is still under consideration of being constructed for some elite members of the Templars such as Jackarius Coopinious. There is no doubt the Liberator is extremely proud of his knights.
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Meanwhile in Zerayah's room
Zerayah was up, playing with the knight model she bought and painted the other day. She heard a weird noise from her father's room resembling a muffled anguished scream. She wondered what it was but it could have been anything. For all she knew, it could have been something that came up. However, she remembered she was past bedtime and she had education tomorrow so she decided to go to sleep for now and comfort her father tomorrow.