A Bloodstained Mantle

(Current stats are in line with the default power set listed in the informational)

As you land with a thud at the bottom of the ladder you can already smell the melted metal even before you see the blast door down the hallway which has been blasted down into a puddle of slightly cooling slag.

You almost tap your earpiece to inform Adamant that you're inside but stop yourself, you both agreed it would be better not to risk the element of surprise by talking over communications that would not hold up to a robot built to spy on such things.

It takes you only a moment to jump over the blisteringly hot scrap metal and check the directions painted on the floor before you're setting off for the cafeteria, a place large enough to hold everyone in the base while keeping them away from anything that someone who'd taken the compound at gunpoint might not want them to touch.

You sprint down through the narrow concrete halls, hearing the hum of four engines in your way before rounding a bend to encounter a band of four machines like the ones outside, marching in a neat set of two separate pairs in the cramped hallways, each one looks like an armored skeleton whose traded a hand for a laser gatling gun, the red eyes in their skull-like heads flashing in time with the binary chirping which they use as speech.

Although despite that you recognize differences between these machines and Doctor Destruction's older designs, notably lacking is the smell of rotten eggs from the engine or the violent bickering and gestures between each member of the squad.

What really draws the eyes are the addition of jet packs on their back, difficult as that might be to use in the cramped confines of this hallway, and the speed at which they raise the laser gatling guns, a feat of rapid reflexes far beyond the clunky bots you remember.

Of course, even that much superior speed is no match for you, you're on the first one in an instant as you cleave downward with a long wrist blade of bone which whistles through the air before it bisects the machine with the oh so, satisfying screech of metal giving way.

Even before the first bot hits the ground you're already moving on to the second one within reach, it activates its thrusters and shoots backwards in a desperate bid for escape before you hit it like a battering ram, plunging your wrist blades into its eyes and out the other end.

You ride it to the ground as the rocket dies, sparks flying in your wake as it skids across the concrete floor towards the last two robots.

Finally, the remaining robots light up their jet packs as their combat analysis programs catch up to the battle at hand and they begin to open fire, chirping commands at each other as they try to erase you from existence.

You narrowly duck beneath a frantic shower of red lights which burn their way into the far wall behind you before the second bot finally skids to halt and you surge forward like a human missile, your improvised surfboard's fuel tank igniting in a spout of fire as its struck by a stray laser an instant later, casting a shadow over your targets as heat licks at your back.

As the explosion carries you forward you let out a whoop of pure joy as the rush of the fight reaches its zenith, then you're on them once again, and their fates are sealed.

Your leg snaps outward as you land, kicking the nearest bot's gatling laser upwards, its wild firing leaving the concrete above you glowing orange before you decapitate it with a single blow, the final bot tries to evade you but it's no use, you pin it to the wall with a shard of bone and tear out its engine, holding it up to inspect as the light in the last bot's eyes die, taking a moment to boost your investigative abilities in this bubble of calm

As you suspected, it's a new design, and not just the older version with a few minor improvements, this is a radically improved design, built around some fantastically expensive parts, parts that you would have known if Doctor Destruction had stolen and so expensive that his lackluster finances would never be able to support purchasing them, certainly not for his rank and file cannon fodder.

Which means that whatever he put together to face you and Adamant head on could actually pose a threat, and furthermore, that you might not recognize them by their engine sounds, meaning that if you keep picking these fights then you might run into something significantly tougher than a quartet of cannon fodder robots.

You put the engine down and take back the bone holding the bot to the wall, letting it drop with a heavy clang to the floor, whatever is going on here and whoever has been funding him can wait until you rescue these hostages.

Your body shifts, a cloak of flesh growing out over your costume as you blend into the dark gray hallways of the base, your footsteps quiet as your feet grow softened pads and your ears grow to better avoid the robots still searching for people.

As you finish shifting you hear a noise like thunder as the building shakes around you, Adamant must have finally met some real resistance, all the more reason you have to hurry.

Adamant can take care of himself, he's nearly invincible, the hostages? Significantly less so.

With your powers it's almost child's play to creep through each hallway, to step over the remains of each melted blast door, walk past each burnt corpse, some holding weapons, more without, and to dodge through each and every patrol until you arrive at the cafeteria.

The long tables and chairs have been moved to touch each wall, and where they used to be is instead a group of about fifteen men and women sitting with zip ties around their hands, these seem to be the lucky ones, a small pile of smoking corpses have been unceremoniously dumped in a corner, melted flesh dripping from a few of them onto the floor like ice cream left out in the sun for too long.

For the moment you turn off your sense of smell, not wanting to smell that horror show, and turn to the guards to distract yourself from the sight.

Ten of the bots which you fought earlier stand in a circle around the hostages, but what really catches your eye is the robot standing in a corner, pacing back and forth and chirping at the others in what seems to you do be an almost whiny tone.

Immediately you can tell that this thing is a cut above the rest, it's sleeker, it's movements are more fluid, and it spins and swings its four blade-limbs with incredible speed as it walks back and forth, it's owl like face swiveling around to watch the hostages no matter where it moves.

However, it looks pretty fragile, not quite as easy to break as the bots, but a few good hit should be able to wreak it if you can land them.

All in all, this could be a problem, what will you do?
O-O-O-O-O

Anyway, I think I've shook the rust off, so here's a significantly tougher (but far from unbeatable) fight, I hope you come out on top.

For anyone who would like to submit a combat plan you don't necessarily need to include a list of exactly what you want your power to boost and how, although a basic description of what you want is absolutely necessary, and if you provide a list of specifics, please include the point costs.

A given plan might take place over several rounds, a new plan will be asked for if your previous plan is not longer viable, if it is completed, or if there's an important decision that needs to be made.

Good luck, and remember, you have a safety net if you mess up! Enjoy it while it lasts.