LOG-019.
"Got any fives?"
Ordinarily, it would have been a quiet night outside of the Warden coastal facility known as IQ-7. At best, there would be the gentle rush of waves, or perhaps the occasional cries of a few birds that hadn't yet gotten the memo that it was time to go to sleep.
"No. Go fish?"
Unfortunately for the pair of Guards keeping watch outside of the immense, blocky structure's secondary entrance, the soft sounds of old had been replaced with a steady, droning hum that was as persistent as it was loud.
"...That's not what we're playing."
It was something almost enough to drive a man mad, given enough time. And it was only the occasional clanking of metallic feet and whirring of servos which served to break up that horrendous monotony, belonging to the sporadic patrols of Mecha-Wardens that orbited the former coast guard dockyard every now and then.
"Oh."
The source of the noise, naturally, was the immense data center that had been built within the repurposed facility, a creation lauded as vital for public safety thanks to its role in controlling and coordinating a respectable portion of the robotic police force, but which had earned more than a few protests for both environmental concerns and the relentless noise pollution it constantly emitted, matched only by the two other facilities that mirrored it elsewhere.
"Did you seriously think we were playing go fish?"
But that was above the pay grades of the two Guards. Instead, the duo sat opposite of each other, a small folding table set between them with a deck of cards being used to pass the time.
"Listen man, I can barely hear myself think over this constant noise. Much less whatever the heck you were saying."
A bit lax in terms of security, perhaps, but the truth of the matter was that the Mecha-Wardens were the first and last defence of the data centers, prepared to swarm and overwhelm anyone who lacked the appropriate identity and credentials to approach their control site, and the humans present were mostly just there for the simple purpose of reassuring the civilian populace, more than anything else.
"Heh, yeah. That's fair-gurk-!"
As a result, one of the Guards could do little more than rear back in shock as a shadowed figure seemingly slipped out from the mist that had settled over the area, a flash of obscured light slamming into his counterpart's throat and sending him toppling off the side of the small platform they'd been stationed upon, a quiet splash indicating that he had fallen into the water below.
"What the-show yourself!"
Gloved hands raised up in a fighting posture, and the remaining officer glanced around warily, trying to catch sight of just where the humanoid figure had gone.
"Come out now! I won't say it agai-IKE!"
Only to stiffen as a hand sharply chopped into the back of his neck, the sensation of electricity coursing through his body before a gentle shove sent him falling over the edge as well, joining his brother in arms beneath the waves.
The flash of a visor reflecting the light outside of the entrance was the only thing visible as the intruder turned towards the doors, rearing back a leg before kicking them open with a shriek of faltering metal.
And then they disappeared within, right as the next patrol of Mecha-Wardens stomped by, their forms leaving heavy footprints within the sand of the beach adjacent to their AI nexus.
—
I sat upon my throne within the Animus, head bowed and fingers steepled above my knees as the looted table in front of me continued to shake beneath the weight of shouting and bickering Generals.It had been about a day since my encounter and near loss with the man who had forced me to retreat, and since then things had been...quiet.Well, relatively so.
"They deployed an Interdimensional Defender! They kicked our asses back during the war and clearly they're coming back for round two! We should focus on stealing weapons of mass destruction to counter them!"
Infernus' roared statement earned a click of Carapace's mandibles, the enormous beetle evidently unenthused at the prospect, even as several figures nodded and muttered in agreement.
"The reason they deployed the Defender in the first place is due to our escalation. Let's state it plainly, beneath Armageddon, the Gamma Legion were small pests at worst, with most of our number locked away in that damnable prison. But we've been upping our attacks, winning fights, our new leader wears a conquered Warden's uniform for stars' sake!"
A few other heads nodded along with the old bug's assessment, most notable of which was his niece, who seemed hesitant to be seen visibly agreeing with her uncle as he moved forward, planting one foot onto the table even as his chair clattered behind him, his fist raised into the air.
"Think, comrades. For once we finally hold the upper hand! For once, it truly feels like we are the army we once were, rather than mere criminal rabble to be corralled and caged for years on end!"
The hand swept to the side, pointing in a random direction, claws splayed outwards.
"I say we take the fight to them! Force the Defenders into open combat, like the good old days! They are either older or gone, and yet we are still here, and stronger than ever!"
Leaning back into my seat, I allowed the subsequent cacophony of approval to wash over, hands resting atop the armrests of my throne, even as I ignored Lovelace's continuous stare from her position at the end of the table, the jester-like General no doubt trying to find some weak point located between my pectorals.
It was only as the excited elements of the Gamma Legion's high command were beginning to calm down that the doors leading into the chamber burst open, a singular Grunt rushing past the surprised warlords and skidding to a stop at my side.
I recognised this one. Grunt four hundred and nineteen. One of my former loyalists back when I'd merely been a General, now marked instead as an elite soldier and one of my personal mooks by the unique trim of their armour.
Tilting my head to the side, I remained still, weathering everyone's curious stares as the alien warrior leaned over, whispering into my ear.
"Hup hup. Hup hup hup."
Eyes widening behind my visor, I waved the loyal minion back, who bowed at the waist before stepping aside. Then I turned to glance at my table of subordinates.
"...It would appear an unexpected variable has entered the equation, ladies and gentlebeings."
Leaning forward slightly, I resisted the urge to frown within the confines of my helmet, mind already working to recall whether it had been one of my schemes that had brought forward such an occurrence, before failing to do so.
"As of fifteen minutes ago, the Steel Armada went rogue. They have begun attacking Warden facilities across the globe, and enforcing a kind of martial law upon what few cities they have managed to successfully overwhelm."
There was a sporadic cheer at the words, but like myself, most of the Generals failed to be entirely enthusiastic at the thought of our enemies turning upon one another.
After all, if it hadn't been the Gamma Legion that had sparked what seemed to be a fully fledged machine rebellion…then it was almost certain that a new player had entered the game.
Which meant things were about to get interesting, to say the absolute very least.