LOG-020.Warden Red didn’t know when precisely everything had gone so wrong. After all, it had felt like just yesterday when the most complicated parts of his life had been stopping the Gamma Legion from performing their latest harebrained scheme.“What the heck’s gotten into these things?! They’re-gah!”Now, as he watched Green sail off into the distance, having been driven into and through a wall by one of the malfunctioning machines that had been styled after their team, he couldn’t help but lament at just how complicated everything had become.Of course before he could think of anything else, the man was forced to duck as one of the defective Mecha-Wardens lunged at him, its visor glowing a malevolent red, clearly and conveniently indicating its betrayal of their cause as its robotic limbs pierced the air he’d just been occupying.“Damn it-back off you scrapheap!”Rearing back a leg, he eschewed the usual callout, instead slamming his boot against the machine’s head, sending the replica of his own helmet flying off and leaving the robot briefly groping about blindly for a target before finally falling over.Glancing to the side at a by now familiar humming sound, Red watched as the makeshift energy blaster Blue had been working on for the past few weeks fired, the cerulean beam coring through several Mecha-Wardens even as its wielder yelled out.“How many of these things are there?! And where’s Pink?!”“Right here!”The shouted word coincided with the doors of their headquarters being kicked open, the mentioned Warden in question cartwheeling into a pair of charging robots before snapping her legs out, sending both of them toppling to the sides as she drew closer.Flipping back to her feet, Pink made one of her usual cutesy poses, even as the two mechanoids abruptly exploded behind her.“Sorry I’m late! I was at the betting house when I got your call!”A bit of dust fell from the recently made hole in the wall as Green, having returned, ducked through the newly made entrance to their section of the base.“Addict! What’s the word on getting these things shut down?!”Seconds later, the brawny man yelped in response to one of the remaining Mecha-Wardens appearing from behind him and slamming into his back, arms flailing slightly to try and get it off.Red snapped his hand up and parried a strike from another of the malfunctioning machines, even as his other limb was used to activate the commlink set into his helmet, Blue moving to stand beside him and shooting off their coworker’s metal limpet.“I’ll call Doctor Korbin! He probably has some idea of what’s going on!”“Didn’t he say he was on vacation to recover from his ordeal with Knightmare?!”“Crap!”—He was drunk, but that was okay, at least for today.Doctor James Johnathan Korbin smiled as he walked by the hut adjacent to the beach side resort he’d spent quite the penny on relocating to, a surfboard beneath one arm, a stylish speedo, and a pair of sunglasses perched high atop his pointed nose completing his holiday attire.Stepping past a few lovely looking ladies who giggled at his no doubt suave looks, the old man continued on his journey to the water’s edge, only for his smile to falter slightly as a shadow fell over him.It was as if everything had slowed down in that moment. He felt himself looking to the side, even as the enormous figure walking by him did the same, staring down at him through their own evidently custom designed triple lens sunglasses, the enormous floral patterned shirt covering most of the being’s frame not doing very much to conceal the darkened plates of armour beneath, nor the rippling chords of muscle.Viridian green eyes met with his own, and a mojito slowly rose, gripped within a gauntleted hand that could crush the head of a man, a slight slurping filling the air as liquid travelled through an elaborate silly straw and into the figure’s enormous, fanged maw.Then they were gone, and Korbin was left sniffing at the air as he shook the mysterious encounter from his alcohol addled mind, instead focusing on the sensation of the sand beginning to rise in between his toes.— Sparks flew through the air, the shuddering form of a Mecha-Warden continuing to spasm for a moment before the blade protruding from its chest was ripped out, leaving the robot to fall to the ground, lifeless.“Two eight six.”The flash of a visor filled the darkened chamber as two figures moved forward, the more visibly feminine of the pair stepping up to a terminal and typing out a set of commands while the blade wielder stood guard.“That puts you three kills above me…there’s no end to these things, is there?”The question earned a scoff from the Defender watching for additional hostiles, his helmet shaking back and forth slightly in answer.His blue counterpart sighed at that, before pausing at the sight of a red line of code occupying the majority of the screen.“...We’ve got a problem.”Tilting his head, the sword wielder watched as his partner stepped back, a spear materialising in her hands and being thrust into the apparently uncooperative machine.As it burst into cerulean flames, the lack of any result earned a grunt from the woman, who shrugged her shoulders at her comrade’s expectant stare.“The command override built into this facility has been moved somewhere else. Taking out the data centers isn’t gonna cut it.”The crimson Defender grunted at that, turning to glare at the approaching sound of countless mechanical forms moving in lockstep, their glowing vizors filling the darkness of the hallway leading to the chamber they’d fought their way into.“Well, there goes taking out the Armada all at once. Remind me why high command thought swapping to robots was a good idea?”As the soldier took a combat stance, his partner chuckled, flourishing her spear and taking up a position beside him.“Suppose it was the next step. We’re mixed and violent. The Wardens are flesh and soft. Maybe the bots were meant to mix things up, bring in something new?”As the first of many machines moved to engage them, being blasted back by a flash of blue energy, Defender Red could only grunt once more.“Yeah. Metal and traitorous. Heard over the network that the newbloods are getting their asses handed to them back at HQ. We’re gonna need to wake up the others for this…especially if the Legion try to pull something.”As the man rushed forward, scattering half a dozen Mecha-Wardens with a wave of vermilion flames, the woman he’d known the longest chuckled.“Damn, Green is gonna be cranky. I know I was.”“Less talking, more fighting.”“You got it boss.”And so the recaptured data center was filled with the sounds of machines meeting their destruction, even as the ones who fought within it planned their next move.