LOG-017.
Chief Engineer Shen was having a…day.
What with the constant maintenance her team was being forced to conduct for every batch of damaged Mecha-Wardens that returned from the field, the ever increasing orders for more of the machines from an ever more demanding populace fearing the Gamma Legion's escalating attacks, and having to fix Warden Green's damned suit again, the young prodigy was being run positively ragged.
"And that's the last time I'm fixing your stupid suit! You got that?!"
The warning that she'd growled out a million times before today was accompanied by a threatening wave of her wrench, earning a wince from the figure hastily ducking out of the doorway of her workshop, the Warden waving a hand at her as he went.
"R-Right! Thanks again Shen!"
The man dodged out of the way with a yelp as the tool she'd been holding flew past just where his head had once been, her fist now shaking at his absence.
"That's Chief Engineer Shen to you! Maggot!"
"Eep!"
Glaring at the now empty hall, she waited until the automatic doors finally slid shut, isolating her within the peace and quiet of her workshop once more.
"Don't you ever feel like you're a bit hard on him?"
Turning, Shen regarded the human skull staring at her, two startlingly green eyes somehow still miraculously within its eyesockets, before rolling her own eyes.
"If he didn't want to be yelled at, he wouldn't constantly play at being the tank of the group, Lazarus."
The skeleton wearing a neatly buttoned shirt, tie and slacks beneath a long lab coat let out a chuckle at that, even as he inspected what she recognised to be one of the miniature optics of the Mecha-Warden currently lying disassembled on the nearby table.
"That's Doctor Lazarus to you, chief engineer."
He glanced up at that, meeting the glare levelled his way as the silence between them stretched for a long moment, before the two finally burst out into soft giggles and bony snickers respectively.
Letting the humour slowly seep out of her frame, Shen strode past the scientist made infamous for his 'lab accidents' and brought her elbows above the table next to him, just enough to rest next to the mechanical foot soldier they were currently working on, one hand idly pulling her goggles down as she leaned forward.
"Speaking of, you've been around a lot more lately. Normally I'd be working with Doctor Flowers. What's the deal? Don't you normally work in the Old War division?"
She heard rather than saw Lazarus walk up next to her, his gloved fingers passing her a screwdriver as he began the painstaking process of setting their patient's optic back into place beneath its faux visor.
Something likely better left to an automated machine, but alas, most of those were already occupied with this exact same task, or busy constructing new bodies to throw at the Gamma Legionnaires rampaging through the world.
"Warden high command are…less than pleased with the state of things currently. Intelligence suggests a sharp change in the Legion's power structure, likely the source of their enhanced strategies and tactics."
Shen blinked at that, thinking back to the various reports she'd read in her increasingly lessening off time. Stories of strike teams penetrating deep into Warden facilities, usually with the goal of stealing everything not nailed down. Alongside the criminal organisation's more usual supply runs of course.
"Wait…really? But what about Armageddon? Sure he was predictable, but that was a good trait that was intentionally cultivated. We even flubbed a few battles with him to increase his perceived strength in the eyes of the other Legionnaires, what changed?"
Heck, there were even rumours that General Infernus had managed to steal an airship in the midst of the vessel's resupply, though things were still up in the air regarding that.
"You didn't hear it from me…but word from the grapevine is that Knightmare managed to take over the whole operation. Armageddon's currently MIA, and a lot of the Legion's latest actions fit the General's MO to a tee."
She couldn't help a sharp intake of breath at that, air hissing through her teeth as she slowly exhaled.
"Damn, that freakazoid, seriously? Ugh, he was bad enough when he was just a Lieutenant! And he only got worse to deal with after each promotion!"
Lazarus nodded sagely from beside her, even as he clicked the Mecha-Warden's visor back into place.
"Hence some shuffling around of…older assets such as myself, among others. The current generation of law enforcers you lot have running around are good, but Knightmare's a different breed of enemy. One that might just be beyond them, and one that a different type of specialist may well be needed to deal with."
Her hands paused in the midst of reinserting a power core into the motionless robot's opened up chest, thoughts whirling at the implications behind the words.
"...Are you implying what I think you're implying?"
Glancing out of the corner of her eye revealed Lazarus' usual leering grin, but that wasn't anything new, considering that was effectively the permanent expression etched onto his bleached skull.
His eyes though…his eyes held a level of amusement that certainly made her feel as young as she actually was, especially compared to the far, far older researcher.
"Ah, well you know how it is."
The man who, according to her own investigations after meeting him, had been but an intern during the Old War, back when soldiers had been needed more than ever, rather than glorified police officers.
"Sometimes an old dog is what's needed, when all the new tricks just aren't working out. Simply keep an eye to the sky and an ear on the ground, that's all I'm saying."
…She was going to need to check the news cycle again, wasn't she?
Waaah! Even more work to do! Damn it!
—
The air was incredibly wet, this far out in the endless blue of the ocean. It reminded him of the few naval battles he and his friends had engaged in, back when things had been so much more complicated.
Well…perhaps just slightly more complicated. Considering the sight in front of him certainly felt familiar, at the very least.
The facility was a newer one, intended to serve as a forward operating base for the Wardens, alongside functioning as a deployment station for local Steel Armada patrols.
That same facility was currently up in flames, the sounds of Grunts and Guards engaging in skirmishes around the repurposed oil rig's perimeter filling the air, slowly growing muffled until the doors he had passed through slammed shut behind him, leaving him to lock visors with the orchestrator of the raid.
"Backup is on the way! Do you-"
The communicator installed into his helmet crackled, the dispatcher desperately trying to coordinate a counter strike against the rogue airship currently hovering above their heads wasting precious seconds to speak to him instead of rallying the remaining garrison into something resembling a proper fighting force.
"Not necessary."
The youngster on the other end finally went silent as his eyes flicked to the stolen badge adorned atop the impostor's wrist, before he inclined his head slightly, blades manifesting and falling from their positions across his crimson arms to settle into steady black gloved hands.
Predictably, the Gamma Lord recoiled slightly at the sight of him, before gesturing in his direction with a lance sparking with dark energies, a mob of Grunts, alongside three Lieutenants, moving to swarm the newcomer in compliance with the clear command, their Chaotic forms clashing with the clean white surroundings of the FOB's interior.
"I'll neutralise the target myself."
Ugh, he was going to need to roll out the crick in his neck after this. Damned thing just kept coming back, even at the worst of times.