LOG-010.
A blinking white button was pushed.
"UCF, this is Earthside HQ, please respond."
The Warden's words were met with silence, and for a long moment Red hoped that it was merely some kind of error. That Professor Korbin's words were just the result of yet another of the old man's occasional fugues.
One he was suffering from presently, mumbling about pasta and interdimensional matrices in the safety of the little bundle of blankets they'd assembled for him in the corner of the room.
He glanced to the side, visor catching the light from his position hunched over the base's communication console, and took note of the rest of his team, all tensely waiting around for some kind of result. Some kind of plan.
Blue, leaned up against a wall, his arms crossed and helmet tilted down slightly, no doubt already devising responses to whatever scenario they would be faced with.
Yellow, tensely striding back and forth, fingers grasping at thin air, as if she could yank Knightmare out of Unspace herself.
Green, sat down on one of the stools that would normally surround the team poker table, a pauldron removed to allow him to gingerly poke and prod at one of his latest injuries.
And Pink, typing away at her civilian phone, a balloon formed of bubblegum somehow managing to make its way past her mask despite the physical improbability of such a thing.
They were his team. His friends. His comrades in arms. And he'd led them to failure, allowing Knightmare to execute his plan with perfection.
It was still unbelievable. A human, siding with the Gamma Legion. Why? Who would do such a thing? Why would the Legion even accept them?
Sighing, he turned back towards the console, pressing down on the blinking white button once more.
"UCF, this is Earthside HQ, please respond…"
Another moment, and another lack of response. Scowling behind his helmet, Red straightened up from his hunched over position, crossing his arms.
"This isn't like them."
His words earned a snort from Blue, his best friend pushing off against his resting place and stalking up to stare down at the readout indicating their base's direct counterpart, and its complete silence.
"Course it isn't, they've no doubt been compromised. That facility is built to restrain Chaos lifeforms, not flesh and blood criminals."
It was Green's turn to pipe up at that, letting out a slight hiss as he slotted his pauldron back into place, visor flashing in the light seriously.
"Just got off internal comms with some of our other Earthside assets. Next airship due for transport to the UCF is supply barge three, and she isn't due for takeoff for another three hours."
Yellow paused in her pacing, turning to regard her fellow Warden.
"Could we take the arrester portals? Aim the badges at ourselves somehow and just teleport in?"
There wasn't much hope in the woman's voice in her plan working, and what little there was promptly crumbled as Red shook his head, resisting the urge to growl.
"There's safeties built into the things to avoid accidental arrests, and reprogramming them to remove those safeties would take longer than waiting for the airship. We just have to face facts, we're grounded. And until then, there's only one person who can truly hold any amount of ground against Knightmare."
Glancing back in the direction of the console, Red looked up and quietly admired the poster that he knew for a fact decorated many parts of the world right now, plastered across shop windows, childrens' bedroom walls, and Warden sponsored billboards.
A New Member Joins The Force!
…Then he noticed the blinking alarm that indicated another Legion incursion was happening right below the poster, this time with the attack apparently located within the territory of the island nation of DnalerI.
"Damn it Silver, let's hope that prototype suit is ready…"
—
"Don't let him get through, contact command!"
"I'm trying! No one's answering on comms! It's like the whole system is do-GAH!"
The Guard went rolling in response to a blast from my lance, even as I sidestepped a flying tackle from her counterpart, who promptly sailed past me with a yelp before getting a slap to the back of his head by my weapon.
The cellblock was getting loud now, as the various prisoners interned in their little containment chambers noticed that someone was fighting their jailers outside.
And more importantly.
"Combat stance: Electric Emancipator!"
They noticed that I was winning.
"LOOK OUT-ARGHHH!"
Three more Guards that had been trying to flank me joined the dozen and change I'd already disposed of, their uniformed bodies shaking and spasming as the black lightning I'd summoned crawled across the floor and over their cuirasses in an instant.
Sweeping my lance to the side to flick away the trace sparks still clinging to it, I marched towards the terminal my opponents had been so desperate to stop me from reaching, idly bringing up the small communicator I'd been holding in my free hand as I did so.
"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!"
Around me, the clamouring of the prisoners only grew louder as a few who had likely been captured after I'd made a name for myself in the Legion recognised me, and I shot the writhing masses of white energy a nod as I settled to a stop, ignoring their repeating chant and staring down at the array of controls before me.
"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!"
Hacking into the communication center had been…almost too easy. Namely because a particularly forgetful jailer had apparently decided the best way to remember his password was writing the thing on a note, before taping it to the side of his monitor.
"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!"
From there, I'd taken hold of one of the many devices littering the room, stolen from one of my still unconscious victims, a communicator.
"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!"
As it stood, the device was linked to the facility's announcement speakers now, alongside a few other critical systems that I figured having control of might come in handy later.
"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!"
Once I was finished here, I'd find a way to access the other cellblocks, then I could-
"So, you're the infamous Knightmare General, huh? Dare I say it, you look almost heroic in those colours."
I froze, noting the sudden silence of my imprisoned supporters, before slowly setting the stolen gadget down atop the terminal, letting out a breath as I did so.
"...You know, I put a lot of effort into making sure this little garrison wouldn't be getting any immediate reinforcements. They couldn't have called for help."
Whoever was behind me chuckled, their voice ever so slightly muffled in an annoyingly familiar way, one that made me clench my lance that much tighter as I turned around.
"I might not officially be on the team yet, but a Warden is never deaf to the cries of those in need."
A star shaped visor flashed in the bright lighting of the cellblock as I took in the figure facing me down, unconsciously sliding into a readied stance as I did so.
"Oh? I must say, this isn't necessarily what I was expecting. Tell me your name, adversary."
Gloved hands and booted feet slid through the air in an almost mesmerising way, the man taking up a fighting posture of his own, the badge at his wrist catching my eye.
"Warden Silver, at your service."
Nodding along to his words with a chuckle of my own escaping my throat, I idly rerouted additional power to my pilfered riot gear's defensive systems with a flex of will, something I knew would make the blue visor of my own helmet glow that much brighter in between the gold and silver plating it was embedded within, assuming it was anything like my own suit.
"Well, Warden Silver, allow me to thank you…"
The jailer tilted his head, only to be forced to dodge as a blast of lightning impacted the position he'd just been in, his form soaring through the air in a picture perfect backflip in response to my attack.
"After all, you've saved me the trouble of having to look for your badge myself! The convenience is gratifying!"
Damn it, this wasn't going according to plan at all! Silver wasn't supposed to be active yet!
"A no good criminal like you could never wear this badge, for it is sworn only to those who would uphold justice! En Garde, General!"
All I had was old Defender tech!
"Prepare for your precious badge's emancipation, Warden!"
How was I supposed to defeat this guy!?