Tharix watched the knight's from the security console. He stroked his reddish stubble, pondering on his next actions.

'I can't attack them now,' He thought. 'They repurposed the dreadnoughts to guard the garrison.' Then he remembered the three Shadowcog Guardians. The Gateman, the Knight Inspector, and Project Mephiles. Those would do the job.

Kora pointed at the holomap Betrayus had laid out for them. her hand net over to a large room just a left from the entry hall.

"Just go forward till you reach the end of the hall, then go left." Kora explained. "The Storm Ballistics Vault should be there. Take a team in and secure the munitions inside. Be warned though, Betrayus mentioned three Robot Guardians patrolling the complex. He wasn't on the design team for them, but he knows they're not to be trifled with."

Will nodded.

"Affermative, Kora, we'll be on our guard."

The repurposed deadnoughts hammered the thick steel door open. Will and his team led a group of other knights into the fortress, the air was dark and heavy. The whole entrance hall was dark, no sound except the clacking of their metal boots against the cold floor. Tharix watched them from his underground bunker. They were in for a very nasty ambush. Tharix flipped a switch.

A loud, metallic clanging sound, following by scraping steel, interrupted the silence. Four red lights appeared in the dark. The light charged at the knights, and it revealed itself in the light. It was a terrible construct, a hulking metal bird. It had the wings of a pterodactyl and had hands ending in long, slender blades. It was more steel rods and wires than it was plating and armor. ( The Gateman') A terrible screech emitted from it's pronged maw.

Will's gaze hardened.

"Open fire!"

The knights scrambled for cover while firing at the beast. Their attack glanced off it like trying to kill Vanaduke himself with a feather. It dashed towards a group of knights, it's leathery wings tossing them across the room. It raised it's bladed hand, and lacerated the knights that stood before it. The Wardens were decapitated before they even go close to the creature. Tharix laughed, the Gateman would kill them all.

Will charged his Valiance, and fired his Zeus Bullet. It sent the beast flying into the wall, but after a few seconds, it got back up. Will sweated under his helmet.

'Is there no way to kill this thing?' He thought. Doomskull and Nick attacked, clinging onto the robot. Doomskull fired his laser into the beast, while Nick shoved the gun into the robot's inner workings and fired excessively. Eve and Oberon charged and fought, but the beast stretched it's wings and blasted them all back. Eve was knocked unconscious.

'No!' Will panicked and charged in rage. He drew his sword and shield dashed toward's the beast. It momentarily stunned the creature, and he shoved his sword into it's abdomen. He activated his force field, and it ripped the Gateman's stomach open, exposing the circuits inside. Will knew how to beat this thing.

He ran once more at it, but it shoved it's cold finger into Will's stomach. He froze, his weapons hitting the floor. The Gateman's beak twisted into what seemed to be the closest thing to a smile, and screeched in delight. It twisted it's hand, and Will felt his consciousness slipping. His life was ebbing away. Slowly, his vision turned to black, and all was silent.

He felt a tremor near his stomach, and saw the Gateman's finger cut from its hand. Aekun and MechTeka were there, swords drawn. Will squinted through his weary eyes. MechTeka sliced through the Gateman's inner circuits while Aekun stabbed it's neck. The Gateman screeched, a distorted and weak sound, and fell over, it's four red eyes blinking out.

Tharix gasped, a look of shock on his face. Then he scowled, and pounded his fist on the console. He screamed to the technician next to him.

"Activate Project Mephiles."

The Knights moved the garrison up, and the medics tended to the team's grave wounds. Kora established a link to Spiral HQ. Lieutenant Barrus appeared on the screen.

"Kora, the assault is going well, I hope?" He asked.

"We've taken the entry hall, but we've suffered heavy casualties. Lots of wounded and dead." She replied. Barrus stroked his chin.

"Try not to take to long with the siege, we're having trouble in the Scarlet Fortress." Barrus said. "The Gremlins took the ancient keep from it's original monster inhabitants. They're blocking any advancement to depth 24 and onwards. They can work their way up the elevators if they get too far."

Kora nodded, and turned the comm off. She returned to Will, who was barely awake.

"What...happened to..to E-Eve and them?" He muttered. Kora raised her eyebrows.

"I'm surprised you can speak at all. A wound like that should have killed you." Will chuckled.

"Sorry to disappoint." Kora open her mouth, but closed it, an exported look on her face.

"I didn't mean that, I-" She stopped and laughed. "Sorry." She said, smiling.

"Your team is fine, aside from a few bruises and broken bones, nothing a few Sparks of Life won't fix. You can head into the Vault whenever you feel ready." She said.

"Thanks, will do." He rested his head onto the pillow, and rested while he could.

After tending to his wounds, the team, Aekun, MechTeka, and Malkalome advanced into the Vault. Surprisingly, the vault opened by itself. They looked at each other.

"You know this is a trap, don't you?" MechTeka stated. Will peered into the dark.

"I do. But we can't do anything else." Will turned to them. "We're going in. Stay vigilant." They strode into the vault, which was, again, shockingly well lit. Piles and piles of weapons and munitions lined the room. It seemed empty, but they all knew it wasn't. Scuttling noises echoed in the room. A grey shape scuttled into the knight's path, and it pounced on them. Nick shot it down in midair, and it lay sparking on the floor.

"Is that...a spider?" A clanking sound came from behind them. A tall, slender robot appeared from behind the piles of weapons. A tattered red cloth hung from it's shoulder, and a very menacing battle-axe was in it's hand. An array of cannons was mounted on its back.

In a voice that could only be described as an extension of evil itself, it said: "Greetings, knights. I am Mephiles the, Guardian of the Storm Vault. I do not care for who you are, but you are in my domain. If fate had wished you to live he would have not placed you here."

The robot's chest opened, releasing more of those spider drones. He released grenades from the cannons on his back, sending the knights scrambling for cover. Explosions sent weapons falling from above, while the spider drones attacked and distracted the team. Mehplies strode calmly towards them, humming sadistically while swinging his axe. Oberon confronted him, his two black swords in hand.

"Aww, that's cute." Mephiles said. "A little robot." He swung his axe, but Oberon hopped up onto the axe, sprinted across it, and kicked Mephiles in the face. Mephiles stumbled back, but shook it off at struck again, this time catching Oberon in his side. The robot split in two and landed on the floor sparking and twitching. Eve gasped, and dragged the remains of her robot behind some weapons.

"Scrap, scrap, scrap," She panicked. "What do I do..." She picked up some weapons and started to fix Oberon up.

Meanwhile,Will, Doomskull, Aekun and MechTeka fought with the massive robot. Doomskull hammered relentlessly onto the robot's chest, while Will slashed at its knees. MechTeka dashed all around the robot, slashing at it all around. Aekun smashed his sword into its back. Mephiles grunted in what seemed to be pain.

"STOP IT!" Mephiles fired his cannons, sending all of them flying. Will felt bruised and burnt, Mephiles raising his axe to slice will to pieces.

"I really hate all of you. Even the Gremlins. I hate everything." Mephiles sneered. For a second Will thought he saw Mephiles replaced by a flaming demon, but he was near death again, and his eyes were failing him. Just as the axe was about to come down, a mortar shell threw Mephiles into the wall. Oberon looked decked out: Cannons, swords, guns, they were all welded to his now impressive figure. Eve was on his back.

"Fire!" More mortar shells pounded the robot, until there was no more movement. They all stood by Eve.

"Is it dead?"

Mephiles rushed out of the smog and ripped Oberon in two.

"You nasty little Isorans have an annoying habit of fixing things." Mephiles seethed. "Too bad that nothing will be able to fix you , once I'm done." He slammed the butt of his axe into the ground, blasting them back with a shockwave. He raised his axe once more, but a blurry red shape stopped him first. It clawed and smashed Mephiles head, until the robot was no more. Fire was in the red figures eyes, fire that hated all gremlins and all they made. It roared, a sound something between a wolver's growl and a phantom's screech.

"What is that...?" Eve said.

"It helped us out, I think we should at least talk to it." Doomskull said. Will approached it warily.

"Who are you?" Will asked. It growled at them, regarding them curiously, then stood on her two legs.

"Six. Subject Six."

Choice:
A. Let Six join the war effort.
B. Leave Six to do her own thing.

There was only one vault left to raid. The knights would soon have control of the fort, and all the tech within it. But Tharix could not let that happen. King Tinkinzar put him in the position of warmaster because he was cunning, logical, and ruthless. Most of all, he knew the rules of war, and one very important rule was to never let the enemy have the spoils.

Subject Six regarded them curiously, yet cautiously, and she growled at them.

"Are you sure we should trust this thing?" Eve whispered to Will.

"No." Will loaded his gun slowly, not to alert this new, hulking beast. Subject Six then spoke again.

"Who…are youu…" Subject droned. "Gremlins…you're not. What are…Youu?" Six dragged a paw across the floor, fire trailing behind it. Six eyed them suspiciously. Will tried reasoning with it.

"You did help us take down that Gremlin construct." Will said. "But I'd like to know who's side your on."

"Gremlins...hate...do you?" Six slurred. Will nodded curtly. Six's face contorted in what Will thought was a smile.

"Good...you...I help." Six lumbered over to them, the team giving her a wide berth. Eve looked nervously at the creature beside her.

"Why are you letting this thing come along?" Eve whispered.

"Because it's a potential ally," Will replied. "And seeing what it did to the robot, it could be a very valuable one." The knights and their newfound companion came across the Mecha Storage Vault soon enough. The door looked older than the first one. But creaking and clanking was audible from outside. The Gremlins had readied something for them.

Six hammered the door open, seeing the Gremlins wouldn't open the door like last time after waiting for a few minutes. Inside were legions of mecha knights, retrodes, scuttlebots, and mechanized deadnoughts. A giant cube with a valve at the top was in the center of the room.

Eve scanned all the robots here, sending all the data back to Spiral tacticians. She eyed the iron cube suspiciously, the clanking was coming from inside.

"Will..." She beckoned him over. "Readings indicate that there is an active piece of Gremlin technology in there. I would advise caution if you chose to open this." Aekun, MechTeka, Nick, Doomskull, and Six stood ready to attack whatever came out of the cube. Will stood by Eve as she hacked the console on the side of the cube. The valve on the top turned, and the lid lifted.

THUD. THUD.

Two giant metal hands emerged from the cube. Dents appeared in the sides, knocking Will and Eve back. A hulking metal beast lifted itself from its container. It boomed at the knights, a sound much like the red device at the Inter Center, making them clutch their heads in pain. It brought up it's left arm, a menacing gun, and fired. The knights were hit badly, and Oberon was still broken. They were at a disadvantage, and a fatal one.

The robot tore its container apart, sending chunks of metal flying through the air. An antennae extended from it's back, and a low buzzing filled the air. All around them, mecha knights started to shake and smoke. Their artificial eyes lit up, filled with unfeeling cruelty. The team looked around in despair, hopelessly outnumbered.

Will squinted through his smoke-clouded vision. Eve was across from him, a nasty gash in her forehead. Her wo drones were attempting to heal her with the feeble power they had left, but to no avail. Will scrambled over to her.

"Scrap, scrap, scrap!" He panicked. He fumbled with a spark of life and applied it to her forehead. The bleeding stopped, and her eyes fluttered open. Will sighed in relief.

"Thanks..." Eve murmured. "For...saving me..."

She stumbled to her feet, clutching her arm. Will guided her over to the exit, cutting down mecha knights as they rushed at them. Just as they were about to reach the exit, The Knight Inspector threw a chunk of metal in the doorway, closing off the only exit. Will fumed and screamed at the robot in rage. The Knight Inspector seemed to laugh, and fired his gun arm again. Will activated his shield, the bullets pinging off the energy field.

Nick and Doomskull were backed into a corner. Doomskull swung his hammer in an arc, repelling his attackers as Nick shot the knights pouring in from the other side.

"Damn, they just don't stop!" Doomskull shouted. Nick just nodded vigorously and continued firing. The metal corpses just piled up in a sea of rusty metal and sharp edges, drowning them in a mountain of dead constructs. They clambered up the hill of robots, and jumped onto the Knight Inspector's shoulder.

Aekun and MechTeka stood back to back, the enemy on all sides. Aekun threw his cookie back into his bag.

"Alright, you iron dolts, come get some!" Aekun cried. He lashed out with huge, powerful strikes, sending lines of mecha knights flying back. MechTeka parried and dodged like a ghost, slicing as clean as a hot knife through butter.

As Nick and Doomskull hammered the Knight Inspector's head, Will protected Eve from the oncoming legion. He hacked and slashed like a machine, no wound these constructs gave him seemed to slow him down. Eve fixed Oberon as Will kept the mecha knights at bay. Will looked up and saw Six on the ceiling, ready to pounce.

"Now!" He signaled.

Six came down faster than a lightning bolt, crashing onto the mecha knights in a ball of fire. toxins dripped from her jaw, ripping through the ranks. Metal sizzles as acid dissolved it, and fired charred circuits beyond repair. Six roared with the ferocity of an Alpha Wolver, dashing across the room, spreading death to the enemy as she hacked hem to pieces. The Knight Inspector was taking damage, but it was not ready for deactivation yet.

It seized Nick and Doomskull in it's right arm, a huge claw, and electrocuted them with the electrical cannon mounted on it. It tossed them to the side like ragdolls, and marched over to the remaining knights. Six raked it's against the Inspector's leg, making it buckle on one knee. It slammed its right arm onto the ground, sending an electric shock through the floor, and launching several explosive flares into the air.

The explosive force shattered Will's shield and flung the knights into the wall. Six lay twitching on the floor behind the Inspector. Will shakily got up, still recovering from the shock, and charged his Zeus Bullet and his Quantum Discharge at the same time, bringing his sword and gun together. The room crackled with energy as the Knight Inspector charged a shot as well.

They both fired at the same time, the two beams of energy competing for dominance and a chance to end the other's life. A huge sonic boom flung them both back. When Will opened his eyes, a smoking hole was in the Knight Inspector. The team, injured, dislodged the metal blocking the exit and made their way back to the camp, telling of the mission's success.

Kora contacted Barrus.

"Barrus, we have taken Shadowcog and its tech." She stated. "How is the Scarlet Siege going?" Barrus looked tired, bags under his usually alert eyes.

"Not good. The knights back at the wolver base was supposed to meet us at Depth 16 and attack with our joined forces, but for some reason the base has gone dead. Help never came." Barrus replied.

Kora nodded.

"Reinforcements will come soon, hold on." Kora disabled the link, and helped storm the fort.

Tharix hurriedly got onto the Gremlin airship, taking all the schematics the knights hadn't stolen yet with him. As the airship took off, he looked at his fort in ruins. Tinkinzar would not be pleased. He sat, conflicted. He had a thought, just before his ship exploded. In mid air his ship just exploded from the inside out.

Several knights watched from a cliff in the distance.

"It seemed that the Gremlins couldn't be trusted with keeping the balance." Said Caesar, putting the trigger he held in his hand away. "They will pay for such insubordination." He turned to Tinker and Syber.

"Excellent work on the traps you left Syber." He said. "The warmaster would've gotten away." Then he turned to Tinker.

"Tinker, your hacking skill weakened the guardians, left untouched the knights would have been decimated. The balance wouldn't be in sync if not for you."

Caesar stood looking out on the cliff.

"The Gremlins have been winning far to often. No one side should have an advantage as to grow more powerful than us." He said. Inside though, he left differently.

'Fanatics. Crazy power-hungry fools.' He thought. 'That power is mine, if anyone's. And I don't need so called faith to do it.' Caesar and his cult brothers walked over to the shrouded ship hidden in the dark crag, and flew into the red sky.

A few days later, Will got contacted by Lieutenant Barrus.

"Barrus! It's an honor. Whaddya need?"

"I've heard about your performance at Shadowcog, and I think you and your team could help with another siege at the Scarlet Fortress. Meet us at the depth 23 garrison when you can. Barrus out."

Will sat and pondered in his quarters for awhile, when there was a knock on his door. He opened it to find Eve.

"Uh...this may come as abrupt," She began. "But I need your help with something." Will nodded, and listened.

"I once had a team before I came to work with you. We kept in contact always, when one day they just stopped." She said. "I looked all over for them, and I still can't find them. Until now."

"Where are they?"

"I received a message, distorted, but I can still make out what its saying."

It opened up to a ragged knight, the screen filled with static and interference.

"This is Elra Cernis of- *INTERFERENCE* -Order! We are trapped in depth 31, and we can't get out! There are- *NTERFERENCE* -here, but they're not people! They're part of- *INTERFERENCE* -and they have a-"

The transmission suddenly ends as a huge pair of black wings loom behind Elra. Will shook his head in disbelief.

"There is no depth 31. How-"

"There is. I found it when we were adventuring years ago, but we couldn't explore it because some black substance was blocking our way. It seems something else came along and cleared the path, but is still no friend to the Order. You in?"

A. Help Eve
B. Help Barrus