LOG-018.
I was Lord Knightmare, supreme leader of the Gamma Legion. Ultimate foe of the Interdimensional Wardens.
"So you're the new boss in town."
I was the strongest I'd ever been, augmented by both stolen Warden and newly innovated Legion technology. I was well trained, experienced in combat, and surrounded by powerful, capable subordinates and allies.
"One might…say that!"
And I was all but fighting for my life in the face of my latest opponent, sparks flying through the air as I blocked or redirected strikes that hit hard enough that I could damn near feel them in my bones.
In between hits I observed him of course, and noted a few differences from the usual Warden aesthetic. The individual I was fighting was far more militaristic at a glance, for one. He moved, dressed, and carried himself like a soldier.
Which of course, he arguably was, I supposed.
Still, Lance nonetheless met blade regardless of uniform, again and again and again, until I was forced to give ground in the face of my foe's almost outrageously aggressive fighting style, his muscled form a blur as I did my level best not to get pummelled into pieces.
And then one of his blades literally lit itself on fire and promptly began sailing past my own occupied weapon, directly towards my head.
"Look out my Lord!"
Throwing myself to the side and into the adjusted gravity stream that my Lieutenant's outstretched hand was maintaining, I just barely found myself dodging the burning strike, which in turn was quickly redirected towards another of my subordinates, sending Magnetron flying into a nearby wall with a cry of alarm right as he'd been preparing his own attack.
With a single hit, the Commander in question joined the small army of Grunts currently littering the ground, each of them writhing around in pain, even as the glowing crimson visor of the damned Interdimensional Defender turned to lock onto me again.
"Seems getting past the Grunt stage didn't make him any less sloppy about avoiding hits. Not you though, you're performing pretty well so far. Especially for a human being."
There was a light pause, before the man nodded his head.
"Shame that you threw in with this lot. You would have made a good Warden."
Gritting my teeth behind my mask, I levelled my lance at the bastard, spiralling silver energy and strands of darkness coalescing around its length.
"Law enforcement just isn't my passion I'm afraid. Combat stance: Corrupted Moonbeam!"
The subsequent blast of energy was something that the Wardens likely would have done their best to flip out of the way of, usually in some bizarre feat of acrobatic ability. Either that, or they'd counter it with their own attack, resulting in some kind of dramatic explosion that would have given me a bit of cover to move about in.
In comparison, the Defender slammed his two blades together in an x shape, before tanking the hit entirely, intermeshed light and darkness spiraling over his form before dissipating harmlessly into the air, leaving him to begin advancing once more.
Staring at the relentless juggernaut, I turned towards my sole remaining ally, and shook my head, quietly noting Magnetron staggering to his feet and gesturing some of the more coherent Grunts into picking up their fellows.
"Increase the gravity on him and do your best to slow his progress, I'm going to prep a portal."
Vector's metallic head nodded in the affirmative, the Lieutenant stepping past me to raise both of his mechanical arms, fingers outstretched as the air around our hunter began to visibly distort in the face of the escapee's power exerting itself.
True to my word, I brought up one of my arms, lance returning to storage as I used my newly freed hand to begin typing out a series of coordinates, doing my level best to keep my fingers from trembling as I did so.
Which was hard, because I was pretty sure Vector had tripled, or perhaps even quadrupled the gravity pressing the Defender downwards, and he still wasn't slowing down.
Eyes narrowing as the device attached to my wrist (not to be confused with the Warden badge attached to my other wrist) let out an affirming beep, I glanced up at the familiar green of a Gamma portal coming into existence, before turning sharply at a cry of pain from behind me.
My subordinate was skidding across the floor now, metal frame leaving scratches against the surface, a distinctly boot shaped dent in one of his shoulders giving me a guess as to what had sent him finally grinding to a halt at my feet.
Staring down at the defeated Chaos lifeform, I let out a sigh before stepping past him, gesturing towards the portal behind me as I locked visors with the red and black Defender once more, carefully noting Magnetron and the Grunts fleeing through a nearby doorway.
"Go, I'll be right behind you!"
"M-My Lord?! But-but no Legionnaire left behind?!"
"I am not planning on sacrificing myself here, get going!"
"Y-Yes my Lord!"
Bringing up my arms as the Lieutenant began to scrabble towards the green rift in reality, I let out a low chuckle as my opponent finally stopped, inclining his head slightly.
"Admirable, but I'm still bringing you in."
The sound of Vector slipping through the portal filled the air, and I slowly spread my arms wide, noticing the way the Defender tracked the movement, likely preparing for whatever attack he predicted I was about to attempt.
"Ah, but you see, I haven't even used my special technique yet!"
And then I promptly turned and sprinted towards the portal as well.
"Wha-oh you slimy fu-"
Judging by the sounds of his heavy footsteps and the charging of his blades, the man had given chase the second I'd made my move, but unfortunately for him, I'd already thrown myself through the swirling emerald energy by the time he'd gotten close enough to actually stop me.
Though I did feel several sharp impacts which I was fairly certain were bullets of some kind before I passed beyond the boundary entirely.
Ow.
Still, I'd made it. Which of course simply left the usual aftermath whenever I made an escape with a portal.
"Hurk-"
Namely hitting the floor of the Animus and doing my level best not to vomit into my own helmet, right after passing through a state of existence that material entities weren't supposed to exist in.
Closing my eyes in a futile attempt to escape the sight of my swirling bedroom, I let out a sigh, splayed out across my carpet in a heap of burnt and scratched armour.
"Urgh…Vector, you alive?"
A vaguely metallic voice let out a groan from nearby, and I cracked open an eye, spotting a blurry thumbs up from near my wardrobe.
"Ah…good. Let's…let's just take a minute."
"Zero…zero complaints my Lord."
Man, I'd heard the stories from Armageddon…but experiencing it for myself was an entirely different ordeal. The former Lord's words nonetheless rang true, though.
Interdimensional Defenders were bloody tough, and my first encounter had been with one who hadn't even been in his prime!