LOG-011.
"Combat Stance: Shadow Bulwark-"
"CONFINING MOONBEAM!"
I grit my teeth, feeling my armour rattle around me as the solid wall of light pushed me back, stopping just shy of splattering me against a wall, largely in part thanks to the shield of darkness I'd brought up to buy myself some breathing room.
"Comet Punch!"
Not that Silver seemed very intent on giving me a moment to get my wits about me, I had perhaps half a second to adjust before I was forced to parry a flaming fist with my lance, crackling white embers arcing through the air towards me before-yikes!
Throwing myself to the side, I just barely skirted out of the range of the subsequent explosion as each individual ember detonated, the blast nearly drowning out the roaring cacophony of the various Legionnaires cheering me on.
It was admittedly a nice moral boost, even if I'd been getting my ass solidly handed to me for the past minute or so. Silver was no slouch when it came to combat, that was for sure, even if he was supposedly going to be the 'rookie' of the Wardens' field team.
"Still dodging Knightmare? Your reputation precedes you! All you know is how to run!"
Ignoring the blatant goading, I put practice to that supposed reputation by scrambling to the side, throwing myself over a railing just as another buildup of light indicative of one of my opponent's flashier attacks (and that was saying something, considering all Warden attacks were flashy as a rule) set the air above on fire.
"CONFINING MOONBEAM! GET BACK HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN KNIGHTMARE!"
Just what were they bloody feeding this guy?! Was he trying to vaporise me?!
"I reserve fair fights for opponents worthy of them! You're just a small fry compared to the heroes I usually deal with, damned jailer!"
My outward voice was significantly more confident sounding than my internal one, earning another roar as I watched various energetic figures pressing themselves against the glass windows of their containment doors.
"Not worthy…could it be that I'm not ready for the team-no! Your trickery won't work on me Knightmare! HAVE AT THEE!"
But more importantly, it got Silver to pause for a second, giving me time to take in some awfully shallow breaths within the blazing heat of my suit before the absolute lunatic lunged off of the platform my previous objective had been on. The platform that I'd been forcefully herded off of in the process of trying not to get atomized by the newest Warden's attacks.
"Cavalry Stance: Equestrian Jailbreaker!"
With a roar of engines and a burst of shadows, my mount manifested into being beneath me, wheels screeching against the steel panel flooring it had landed on as the motorcycle propelled itself (and more importantly me) forward.
Just in time really, as the ground shook in response to Silver impacting the spot I'd just been in, steel panels cracking apart and flying in response to his fist cratering the ground.
Damn it, was he trying to kill me or something?!
—
The hallway was filled with the sounds of dozens of boots slamming against the floor as a team of Guards rushed forwards, the one in front waving them along with some kind of rifle clutched in his free arm.
"Come on! Quickly! We need to go reinforce Warden Silver and contain this breach!"
One of the other Guards made to speak, perhaps to ask how her compatriot even knew that Warden Silver had been deployed, or that there was a breach within the UCF's nominally safe confines in the first place, only to glance forward and yelp, extending an arm and stopping both him and another Guard in their tracks.
"L-Lizzy?! What's wrong?!"
"Look! In front of the cellblock!"
Various masked gazes followed the alien recruit's outstretched finger, and gasps ensued as the gaggle of officers finally noticed the portal occupying the path just ahead of them, inconveniently manifested right in front of the doorway leading to the cellblock that they could hear an epic battle occurring in.
But two things took notice even above that. The first was that the Gamma Portal (for what else could it be? The shape was far too distinct to be anything else) was blue instead of the Legion's traditional green, and the second was that there was a decidedly feminine figure emerging from it.
Heeled boots clicked against the ground as the unknown invader emerged, dark armour and a familiar crimson visor drawing gasps from the Guards as it settled into an ominous glow.
Trained as they were, the lesser Warden operatives began to take up combat stances, even as the unknown contact outstretched one arm, a horrifically distinct lance clutched in between her clawed fingers, the weapon's tip digging into the ground with the rest of it sitting at a slight angle as she tilted her helmeted head.
The voice that spoke was simultaneously intimidating and yet…sounded quite young, all things considered.
"Know this, history does not favour you upon this fateful day, but I am not without reason. Turn back or be annihilated, enemies of the Gamma Legion."
The tense silence that followed was thick enough that it could have been pierced by the very same lance she held, at least until Lizzy, having seen where the wind was blowing and slowly edging her way to the very back of the Guard formation, hesitantly peeked her head out in between the shoulders of two of her significantly burlier comrades.
"...Is that a maid dress? Also no! We're trying to do our jobs here!"
A sharp flash crossed the crimson visor's surface as it caught the light dramatically, before what almost looked like strings weaved of pure darkness began to erupt from parts of the apparent maid's midnight dress, her tone utterly nonplussed.
"Yes. Now fall."
Before anyone could so much as question what exactly she meant like that, an answer was provided as the lance was sent hurtling into the center of their formation, sending officers scattering like bowling pins as the maid slammed a gauntleted fist into an open palm.
"Combat Stance: Horsewoman of the Apocalypse!"
Lizzy had seconds to note that she could have sworn she'd heard that specific phrase on her television once, before a writhing string of darkness tore through the air and promptly wrapped around her ankle.
Glancing down at the shadows holding onto her foot, she gave it a hesitant kick.
The shadows did not relent.
"...Ah nuuUUUUUUUTS-"
And then she was flying, before being used as a makeshift club to whack one of her coworkers.
Sigh, if only Bob were there. At least then she could stare at him from behind as they both got their butts kicked.
Hmm, butts…